Novak Djokovic doesn’t think he was being ‘reckless’ by rushing back to play at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.
While Djokovic arrived in London nine days before the start of the grass-court major, he hadn’t decided that he would play on that day. For him, it was always a process of taking it one day at a time, and he made the call to play at the event already during his stay at SW19.
Djokovic eased himself into rehabilitation after the meniscus surgery and slowly ramped up the preparation. Upon arrival in London, Djokovic had some light tennis practices, then he played a practice set and then an exhibition match, so it was a slow and steady process.
He didn’t jump right into it, as some might think. Even so, plenty suggested he was being reckless by pushing for a quick return, but he doesn’t see it that way, and at the end of the day, even if he was, it wouldn’t matter.
He is 37, and he made it to the Wimbledon final. He won 24 Grand Slam titles, and if he made a decision to be ‘reckless’ while chasing that 25th at 37, it could be easily justified. Still, he denies the narrative of trying to ‘prove people wrong’.
“I don’t want to prove people wrong. I was really focused on trying to make Wimbledon happen for me this year, and I was not reckless on any day. I never pushed anything.”
“So once we started rehab I followed every single day everything that they said that I have to do. I did even more than that, in terms of trying to make an effort for Wimbledon to come back.”
Taylor Fritz had a similar recovery after meniscus surgery, so it’s not impossible. The work needs to be done, and a bit of luck certainly helps as well, which Djokovic admitted himself.
His knee reacted positively to everything he did, allowing him to increase the load. He wouldn’t have pushed and played if the reaction had been the opposite. In that sense, he was quite fortunate things unfolded this way.
“Everything that we’ve done in the process of 20+ days has been giving us a positive indication and signal. So I understand why people were thinking it’s premature, it’s maybe reckless. But I don’t think it was, to be honest. I mean I just followed what they were saying.”
