A top Serbian doctor has spoken about Novak Djokovic's slim chances of playing at Wimbledon and asserts that he will recover in time.
Djokovic suffered a meniscus tear on his right knee during the match against Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round of Roland Garros earlier this week. However, it was only after the match that the damage done became evident through an MRI scan.
As expected, he withdrew ahead of his quarterfinal match against Casper Ruud on the advice of his doctors. Djokovic was also cautious about the long-term effect of playing through pain, having confirmed that he had been carrying a knee injury for weeks before this year's French Open.
A day after his withdrawal was announced, he underwent arthroscopic surgery in Paris. The quick operation is believed to have been necessary given the short window until his next tournament, either at Wimbledon or the Olympics.
His chances of making it to London on July 1st are almost nonexistent. However, according to Dr. Goran Rodic, Djokovic might still end up playing both events because the recovery period of his injury is usually very short, as a torn meniscus is considered a mild injury.
"An arthroscopy was performed. It belongs to small, weak surgical methods. The body is entered through two holes with a camera and surgical instruments, and then the doctor sees everything in the knee that is wrong."
"We were told that of everything in the knee, and there is a lot of it, only the inner meniscus was damaged. In relation to the troubles that the knee can bring, it belongs to mild injuries and prognostically is the best possible condition."
In an interview with Sportal, Rodic, who hails from Belgrade, opined that Djokovic's case might have healed on its own without surgical intervention.
But he sent a comforting message to his countryman about how some athletes recovered in three weeks from such injuries. In Djokovic's example, he'll likely have 25 days until his first match at Wimbledon if he recovers to play.
"The good news is that in 90 per cent of cases it does not require surgical intervention. Maybe Novak's injury did not require surgical intervention, however, we who are involved in the examination of athletes suggest that if it is a battle against time, it should be solved surgically because then the rehabilitation is somewhat faster. That works in favor of Novak."
"I assume that Wimbledon is in his head, I hope so. There are examples, you have Nemanja Gudelj from Sevilla who had a similar situation and he was absent for only 19 days."
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