Djokovic's Rapid Recovery 'Not Surprising' Says Fritz: 'He Had More Time Than Me'

Friday, 28 June 2024 at 16:00

byZachary Wimer

Novak Djokovic is seemingly on his way to playing at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, but it's not surprising to Taylor Fritz, who had the same timeline two years ago.

The American injured his knee the same way Djokovic did at Roland Garros this year. Both players tore their meniscus and underwent surgeries immediately after. Both were trying to get to Wimbledon, and while Fritz was able to do so, the Serbian player hasn't yet, but everything is suggesting that he will play.

He has already practiced at the event and even won practice sets against opponents, so it's not hard to imagine him actually playing at the event. Despite being incredible to most, it's not a huge surprise to Fritz, who is in action this week at the Eastbourne International.

He spoke about the 24-time major winner's injury recently on the Tennis Weekly podcast, admitting that the Serbian had a bit more time than he did, which obviously makes a difference, but overall, he's not surprised by the way things have unfolded.

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"You have full strength immediately. You never lost full strength. It’s just about recovering from the actual surgery itself, not any muscular thing. So I’m not surprised. I believe he got in to do surgery before."

"I think his recovery time, I think he has more time than I had, actually. I know for a fact my first match at Wimbledon was exactly 20 days after my surgery. So I played a little less than three weeks after my surgery. Basically three weeks. I think I saw something saying, he’s on, like, I think like 19 or 18 or 20 [days] right about now, so he’s gonna have a whole extra week than I did."

Djokovic has yet to confirm his participation at the event, but he already appears in the draw, and there are no suggestions that he should withdraw.