'You Are F***ed': Novak Djokovic Told Brutal Truth About His Latest Injury Setback
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Rennae Stubbs, Serena Williams' former coach, has predicted the minimum amount of time Novak Djokovic will be out with his ongoing injury.
Djokovic tore a muscle in his left hamstring at the Australian Open. That problem first appeared in the quarterfinal against Carlos Alcaraz, which he managed to win in four sets despite the pain caused by it.
However, Djokovic could no longer cope with the injury in the semifinal against Alexander Zverev. The 37-year-old retired after losing the opening set on a tiebreak, leading to some controversially booing him as he left the court.
An ESPN reporter estimated that Djokovic would miss a few months because of how long hamstring injuries usually take to heal, but thinks the ATP legend will probably be fit in time for the next Grand Slam at the French Open.
In an episode of her podcast, Stubbs gave the minimum period she thinks Djokovic will be sidelined and says a hamstring tear is a nightmare injury for a player to get because of the recovery time involved.
"He showed the scan, the tear in his hamstring. That’s a nightmare. That is minimally six weeks, minimally. I would say two months, minimally. Well then again, he’ll get in his hyperbaric chamber maybe."
Stubbs was joined by Andrea Petkovic, a former French Open semifinalist and respected analyst. The German admitted she does not have medical expertise but knows how serious injuries can be from having had multiple MRI scans throughout her career.
"Honestly, I had unfortunately a lot of MRI pictures to look at and when you can see it that obviously that much liquid in the thing… I am not a medical person at all. But I know, I have seen enough of them that when you have a big white blot that is this big, you are f***ed basically."
Despite Stubbs' and Petkovic's downbeat assessments, the former French Open semifinalist also acknowledges that Djokovic recovers differently from other players because of how hard he has worked on his body over the years.
"The thing is, Novak, he is getting older, but he is different in terms of recovery. I always say that, and this is really important, if you start to do all these things Novak does tomorrow, you are not going to get the same effects."
"But since he was 17, he has been drinking green juices and doing yoga and doing his breathing exercises and meditation. But he has been doing this for 20 years. That’s why his body is in the shape that he can even play like this."
Hopefully, Djokovic can recover swiftly. The former world No. 1 had planned to play in more tournaments this season, including the upcoming Qatar Open, but that now seems a distant possibility because of his physical struggles.
Djokovic had been playing very well at the Australian Open before being stopped by that injury, and Petkovic recently promised never to doubt his tennis level again after witnessing how good he still is.
