Novak Djokovic is under a big injury cloud ahead of the Australian Open with the 10-time champion forced to end his practice session early in Melbourne.
The tennis great has not played any competitive tennis since he won the Hellenic Championship title on November 8 as he once again opted to skip the season-ending ATP Finals.
He was due to kick off his 2026 campaign at this week’s Adelaide International, but he withdrew from the ATP 250 event a few days before the main draw confirming in a statement, “I’m not quite physically ready to compete”.
Djokovic, who will be seeded fourth at the season-opening Grand Slam, only arrived in Melbourne late on Monday and he had his first training session against Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday before taking on Daniil Medvedev in practice set on Wednesday morning.
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The 38-year-old struggled during both sessions with the long flight to Australia and hot conditions perhaps catching up with him as he looked fatigued and was seen huffing and puffing on a few occasions.
He then had a second practice session on Wednesday afternoon, but that lasted only 12 minutes as he was visibly struggling with a neck problem, as he could barely serve. The 24-time Grand Slam winner received treatment from his physio Miljan Amanovic, but was unable to continue.
The former world No 1 is not down for any practice sessions at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday, but could still opt for a lighter session at one of the outside courts.
Djokovic and his fellow challengers will find out the draw for the Australian Open on Thursday with the ceremony set for 14:30 local time (03:30 GMT).
He will likely have to get past both world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz and defending champion Jannik Sinner if he is to win the tournament, as they are the top two seeds.
Last year he lost against Sinner in the semi-final of the French Open and Wimbledon, and against Alcaraz in the last four of the US Open.
Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash recently told Tennis365: “He needs two of them to fall over, that’s the reality of it.
“So I’m very, very interested to see how he goes. It’s a fine balance at the end of your career to find where you are training hard enough to be fit enough to last two, even three, five-set matches, but not pushing it too far.
“So training hard enough to be able to last that, training too hard enough that you don’t get injured.
“You need to save enough in the tank so that you don’t get worn out and then not overtraining that you get injured before you go in there.”
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The post Novak Djokovic struggles to serve as latest injury raises concerns over Australian Open participation appeared first on Tennis365.
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