As Novak Djokovic was concentrating on his rehabilitation from a knee injury with the diligence of a specialist preparing for surgery, the Serbian was quizzed by his wife Jelena, who asked him a simple question. Why?
Why was he pushing so hard to return to Wimbledon, where he is a seven-time champion, less than three weeks after undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus which forced him to forfeit a quarterfinal at the French Open?
Why would Djokovic, who defeated Daniil Medvedev in one of the hit-and-giggle exhibitions at prestigious locations around London over the past week, not give himself more time to focus on winning the one major prize to elude him, an Olympic Gold Medal?
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The eloquent Serbian provided a 444 word answer to describe what some might shorten to FOMO, though not Djokovic, who instead insisted it was more because he had an “incredible desire to play, just to compete” in the edited offering to the question below.
“It’s a very fair question that I don’t know the answer to and I do know the answer to, to be honest,” he said.
“My wife also kind of asked the same question, right? Which is normal. (You are) 37-years-old, you want to maybe have less risk and prepare yourself for the Olympic Games?
“So from that perspective, I don’t have an answer to that, but I do have something that is described as a feeling of not missing out at a grand slam while I can still play and while I’m still active and at this level.
“(But) I wouldn’t call it a fear of missing out. I would just say it’s this incredible desire to play, just to compete, particularly because it is Wimbledon, the tournament that always has been a dream tournament for me when I was a kid.
“Just the thought of me missing Wimbledon was just not correct. I didn’t want to deal with that.”
The 24-time major winner was described as “superhuman” for even considering playing at Wimbledon, let alone stepping out for a five
set grand slam match on Tuesday against Czechia qualifier Vit Kopriva, by defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Instead Djokovic deflected, pointing to the example of American Taylor Fritz, who was able to play last year just three weeks after undergoing similar surgery following the French Open.
Fritz, as an aside, claimed Eastbourne for the third time when beating Sydneysider Max Purcell in the final on Saturday 6-4 6-3.
“I think Taylor Fritz is a superhuman. He recovered in 21 days. I have a bit more (time) if we talk about that,” Djokovic said.
“Like Taylor, we mentioned him a couple times, but his situation really gave me optimism that I could make it, too. Knowing that there was someone who is a tennis player, who plays on such a high level, (had) already succeeded in such a short amount of time to be on the court and compete, it just made me a bit more relaxed, I guess, a bit more confident in my whole process and journey of rehabilitation.
“I mean, three weeks is just making the cut, so to say. It’s not ideal, maybe, in the eyes of the doctors and specialists that would normally tell you it’s normally between three and six weeks. The closer to six weeks the better, probably, because you don’t want to not risk too much and give your knee and your body time.
“But it’s also individual. It’s very subjective. Everyone has a different response to the recovery, to the injury, to rehab, to exercises. (And) I didn’t have a setback.
“If I had a day where my knee just flares up and I have swelling and inflammation, of course I would be slowing down and then my whole Wimbledon, this year’s participation, would be in doubt. But that didn’t happen. It’s not happening.”
The other legend in a race against time at Wimbledon, dual-champion and former world No.1 Andy Murray, trained twice on Saturday including once at the All England Club as he weighs up whether to play after having surgery on his back last week.
The Scot, who is a dual-Olympics gold medallist, lost co-ordination in his legs when playing Australian Jordan Thompson at the Queen’s Club fortnight ago due to spinal cyst and will wait until Monday evening before deciding whether to play Wimbledon for the last time.
He is also entered in the doubles with his elder brother Jamie Murray and said late in the week it was more likely he would compete in that event in what is his final summer of playing.
Alcaraz, who edged Djokovic in a remarkable Wimbledon final last year, is confident he has regained his best form after an early exit in his defense of the Queen’s Club title following a triumph at Roland Garros earlier this month.
“I’m feeling great. Honestly, after Queen’s, I had a lot of days to adapt my game, to practice, to get better,” the Spaniard said.
“I remember after the losing in Queen’s, the next day I started practicing my movement, my shots, just to be more comfortable moving on grass, playing on grass this year.
“Right now I (have) had a great practices with great players just to see how is my level. Right now I think I’m ready to start the tournament.”
Djokovic and Murray are not the only stars under injury clouds in a curse that extends to some Australian hopefuls as well.
Dual-Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has cast doubt on her fitness after withdrawing from a pre-Wimbledon lead-in event in Germany with an injury to her teres muscle, saying she cannot guarantee she will play her opening match against Emina Bektas.
“For someone who doesn’t speak very well English, I call it just a shoulder injury. It’s really a specific injury and it’s really a rare one. Probably I’m just the second or the third tennis player who (has) injured that muscle,” she said.
“It’s a very frustrating one. The most annoying thing is that I can do anything. I can practice. I can hit my groundstrokes. (But) I’m struggling with serving. That’s really annoying.
“You don’t feel like you’re injured. If you give me some weights, I’m going to go lift some weights. But if you tell me to serve, I’m going to go through pain. As someone who (has) been fighting through a lot of different pain in the past (few) months, I still have my hopes.”
Thompson, whose back “locked up” during a semi-final at the Queen’s Club, said he rested for a few days and feels in good shape ahead of a clash with Pavel Kotov, who defeated him in a tight match in Madrid earlier this year.
Thanasi Kokkinakis strained a medial cruciate ligament during a qualifying win at the Queen’s Club and has also taken it easy since, but is hopeful of being close to 100 percent fit when he plays 17th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Tuesday.
Chris O’Connell withdrew on the eve of Roland Garros with a shoulder injury and has not played since. He was scheduled to speak to Australian reporters on Friday but there is no certainty regarding his fitness.