Djokovic not sure if he can keep playing at Australian Open
Melbourne: Novak Djokovic said he tore a muscle during a fall in his five-set victory in the Australian Open's third round and might need to pull out of the tournament.
His opponent, American Taylor Fritz, wasn't so sure. He figured Djokovic definitely will be back out there Sunday to continue his pursuit of a ninth championship at Melbourne Park and 18th Grand Slam title overall.
"If he can play like he played in the fifth, I don't see why he wouldn't play," Fritz said. "He'll beat pretty much anyone."
The No. 1-ranked Djokovic seemed to be cruising along with a two-set lead Friday night when his left foot gave out from under him as he tried to change directions and he slipped awkwardly on the white "MELBOURNE" lettering at the back of the blue court.
He took a medical timeout for treatment on his side and later was helped more by a trainer. Fritz got back into the match, before Djokovic eventually won 7-6 (1), 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2.
When it ended, Djokovic puffed his chest, held his arms out wide and bellowed, his voice echoing through an empty and otherwise silent Rod Laver Arena. The match began with spectators present, but they were forced to leave a little past 11:30 p.m. about an hour before Djokovic wrapped up his win because a local COVID-19 lockdown began at midnight.
During an on-court interview, he was subdued.
And pessimistic.
"I know it's a tear, definitely, of the muscle. So I don't know if I'll manage to recover from that in less than two days. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if I'm going to step out onto the court or not," said Djokovic, who is supposed to face 2016 Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic with a quarterfinal berth on the line.
"I am just very proud of this achievement tonight," Djokovic said. "Let's see what happens tomorrow."
The only man in the draw with more Grand Slam trophies than Djokovic, No. 2 Rafael Nadal, has been complaining about a bad back since last week. Nadal's bid for his men's-record 21st major title breaking a tie with Roger Federer continues Saturday in the third round against Cameron Norrie.
Others in third-round action Saturday include No. 4 Daniil Medvedev, No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 7 Andrey Rublev, No. 9 Matteo Berrettini and the last American man in the tournament, unseeded McKenzie McDonald.
In addition to Djokovic-Raonic, the fourth-round matchups slated for Sunday are No. 3 Dominic Thiem vs. No. 18 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 6 Alexander Zverev vs. No. 23 Dusan Lajovic, and No. 20 Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Aslan Karatsev, a Russian qualifier who is ranked 114th and making his Grand Slam debut.
On Friday, Djokovic's match was halted for about 10 minutes while the crowd was cleared out, which bothered Fritz.
No fans will be allowed at the tournament for at least five days.
"The Nick Kyrgios Experience" was in full effect against Dominic Thiem, from the underarm ace that successfully closed the second set to the around-the-back, between-the-legs miss that ceded the third and so much more to the delight of the Australian Open's last spectators for a while.
Kyrgios, a 25-year-old Australian who is part showman and part sideshow, had a grand ol' time while he was off to a perfect start, egging on a rowdy, partisan crowd and building a two-set lead in the third round Friday against No. 3 seed Thiem, the reigning U.S. Open champion and last year's runner-up at Melbourne Park.
Not surprisingly, the talented and tempestuous Kyrgios was decidedly less amused after his level of play dipped, resulting in a tossed racket, his customary sort of back-and-forth with the chair umpire, a couple of warnings that resulted in a point penalty and, eventually, a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Thiem. The energy out there was special, said Kyrgios, who sat out nearly all of 2020 because of the Coronavirus pandemic and is ranked 47th.
On the other hand, if Serena Williams somehow manages to conjure up another on-the-run, back-to-the-net, no-look, over-the-shoulder shot in her next Australian Open match, a local Coronavirus flareup means there won't be any spectators to react with the appreciative applause and yells that greeted this one.
That's because while Williams was using that bit of magic Friday to help pull off a comeback victory over an opponent who is 20 years younger, the head of the Victoria state government was announcing a five-day lockdown in response to a COVID-19 outbreak at a quarantine hotel.
