Novak Djokovic explained the reason behind his limping at the airport after the 2025 Qatar Open in Doha.
Djokovic last competed at the ATP 500 tournament in Doha. He surprisingly lost already in the opening round to Matteo Berrettini, but that wasn’t the most concerning thing related to the Serbian player that week.
After his loss, Djokovic was seen limping at the Doha Airport. That was a concerning sight, and it suggested that the 37-year-old might have struggled with an injury that no one knew about.
But that wasn’t the case. Djokovic was asked about the viral video ahead of the 2025 Indian Wells Open, and he explained why he was limping. Luckily, the reason wasn’t an injury.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion said that the injury was not an issue for him at all. He said that he feels well now and that he felt well in Doha as well.
“I saw that. No, it was something different, actually. It was not an injury. The injury is behind me. I mean, hopefully. I haven’t felt any problems prior to Doha, end of the Doha tournament, I felt completely fine, as I have felt in the lead-up to Indian Wells, my training weeks.”
Djokovic explained that the reason why he was limping in that video, which he didn’t expect to appear online, was because he hit himself at the airport. The Serbian player was at the airport early, and maybe still half-asleep, he had an unfortunate incident.
“It was really awkward to see that video because I arrived at the airport, and I hit myself really badly as I was walking out because it was very early, I think, 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. I was just limping because I hit myself badly in the ankle. That’s all. It was just a hit. It was nothing else. But then people connected it to the injury and thought it was something escalating and coming back.”
Although many have already connected his limping to Djokovic’s previous injury, those two problems don’t seem to be related. The five-time Indian Wells Open champion then further confirmed that he felt healthy and looked forward to competing in Indian Wells and Miami.
“But anyway, I’m feeling good. I really look forward coming to Indian Wells and Miami this year, you know. I’ll play the Sunshine Double first time after, I think, six years. So I look forward to that. I haven’t done really well in Indian Wells and Miami ever since 2016 or 2017, and I struggled to find my best game here.”
“I’m not going to get younger; I know that. But I definitely look to go deep in the tournament, you know. I’ve done, I think, the right things in preparation. I’ve been playing some good tennis these days. So let’s see. Let’s see how far I can go.”
