Novak Djokovic briefly addressed the state of his knee after a hard-fought win against Jacob Fearnley in the second round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.
The Brit gave Djokovic many problems in the second round, including taking a set from him. It didn’t matter in the end, but because of his knee, Djokovic would have liked to keep these first few matches much more simple.
He underwent surgery not even a full month ago, and while he can play, the knee is obviously not perfect. He still needs to manage his knee, and the more work the knee has to do, the more challenging it may become for him.
Speaking after the match against Fearnley, Djokovic confirmed that he was pain-free in that match as opposed to his first at SW19, but the muscles around the knee were quite sore.
“As I said, I didn’t experience any pain today. The first match, I did have one or two situations, but today, none, which is great. My knee has been responding really well on the days off. I haven’t had any swelling or inflammation, which is great as well.”
The Serbian later explained that while he experienced soreness around the muscles, it was quite normal for the recovery, as it’s the natural response for the knee.
“The muscles around it are getting sore more than usual because they are compensating and protecting the knee, which is normal. There is more work on those muscles, and maybe because they’re sore, they’re also not giving me that kind of dynamic speed and power that I need and want to have. It’s all part of the process.”
However, what will happen when he faces Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner and has to battle through some soreness? If his legs are a bit slow in those matches, that could be a huge problem, but fortunately for the seven-time Wimbledon champion, he has one week left before he has to possibly face either of them.
