Newly retired Roger Federer was amazed.
“
From the baseline, it's incredible.
Such control, it's great to see it after so many months
, ”said the Swiss in the ear of his teammate during the Laver Cup in London last week.
Novak Djokovic has just completed an exceptional first set against Frances Tiafoe.
Due to his non-vaccinated status at Covid-19, the Serb, banned from traveling across the Atlantic, had not played two and a half months since his coronation at Wimbledon against Nick Kyrgios on July 10.
This did not prevent him from sticking a 6-1 in 23 minutes, with no points lost on his face-off, 9 winning shots for a small unforced error.
The “
Djoker ”
did well against the dominated American (6-1, 6-3).
Winner in the wake of his double with Matteo Berrettini against the pair Sock-De Minaur (7-5, 6-2), the Serb had confirmed that the boss was still him.
But what followed was less brilliant.
Beaten the next day by Felix Auger-Aliassime (6-3, 7-6), he was manipulated for his wrist and grimaced several times while holding his arm.
"I'm not worried about my level, but I'm worried about my wrist,
" he then confirmed at a press conference
.
I couldn't serve as quickly or as accurately as I would like.
Maybe not playing games for almost three months, and then the conditions here are such that the balls are really big and slow.
You still have to generate a lot of action and speed with the wrist, which could be why I felt pain in my right wrist.
I will try to take care of it with my physio, to be ready for my first match in Tel‐Aviv.
»
And obviously, he is.
In Israel, the man with 21 Grand Slam titles trained normally, and without a bandage, according to the images circulating on social networks.
He enters the competition this Wednesday in doubles with local player Jonathan Erlich (45), but the serious things will start on Thursday in singles Thiago Monteiro or Pablo Andujar.
He plans to chain two modest ATP 250 tournaments: in Tel‐Aviv then in Nur Sultan, before defending his title at the Rolex Paris Masters, at the end of October.
Objective for the former world number one: to validate his participation in the Masters at the end of the year which brings together the first eight in the ATP ranking.
Read alsoUS Open: no happy ending for the unvaccinated Novak Djokovic
Currently 7th, Nole, on the other hand, has almost no chance of finishing world number one for the eighth time in his career and the third in a row.
He is thus 3170 points behind Carlos Alcaraz, the new king since the US Open.
And as defending champion at Paris-Bercy and semi-finalist of the Turin Masters, Djokovic has no less than 1,600 points to defend by the end of the season.
The insatiable can more reasonably aim for the top 5 at the end of a season which will remain very special for him.
Due to his stubborn refusal not to go through the sting box, the Serb missed two of the Grand Slam tournaments this season (Australian Open and US Open), the American summer tour and the American Masters 1000 Of March.
One certainty: if he
is not bothered by his wrist he can (almost) win everything at the end of the season.
And at 35, he does not yet plan to put away the rackets like Federer (41).
"
I don't feel so old yet to end my career.
I still feel that my body responds to me well, that it listens to me well.
I'm adjusting my schedule, and I don't have the end of my career as a horizon for the moment.
".
