DPA
London
Novak Djokovic is confident he will be fine to start his Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday.
The seven-time champion at the All England Club was expected to miss the tournament after he had to withdraw from the French Open with a right knee injury and subsequently had surgery earlier this month.
However, Djokovic practised on Centre Court with Jannik Sinner on Thursday before a day later declaring himself pain free after he beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3 6-4 in an exhibition match at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at Hurlingham.
Djokovic is pencilled in to start his 19th Championships on Tuesday against qualifier Vit Kopriva and is hopeful his knee will hold up.
“When that happened in the fourth round of Roland Garros, I made a very quick decision to have surgery and I was very much in doubt to make Wimbledon,” the 37-year-old explained.
“Then, after extensive conversations with certain athletes that have been through very similar situations - for example, Taylor Fritz, who has been through something pretty much the same like I have three years ago. He said 21 days after he played his first round in Wimbledon.
“(Stan) Wawrinka, Lindsey Vonn, they all shared their experiences and that gave me faith and optimism that if rehab is done right and if the knee responds well then there is a pretty good chance I’ll make Wimbledon.
“I arrived here on Sunday. It’s been a week of training. A very good week of training.
“I had, particularly the last three days, very intense tennis sessions. I had points. Practice sets played with Sinner, with Frances Tiafoe, with Medvedev yesterday, and Emil Ruusuvuori, actually a double session, and then today with (Holger) Rune, as well.
“Really top players that are playing great tennis on grass. High intensity. Lots of, I guess, situations on the court where the knee is tested to almost the maximum. Change of directions.
“The knee has responded very well to all of that so far, which of course then is a great sign for my participation in Wimbledon. That’s why I decided to be in the draw.
“I still have a couple of days. I play on Tuesday. I’m confident about the health of my knee and just general physical state is really good.
“Obviously once the tournament starts, I’ll have more, I guess, sensations and more feedback from how the knee reacts to a best-of-five Grand Slam match. So far everything that was done was very positive.”
