World No 1 Novak Djokovic says he has torn his stomach muscle which appeared to derail his hopes of winning a ninth title in Melbourne and 18th Grand Slam overall but he still pulls a five-set win out of the bag against Taylor Fritz to reach the fourth round
Friday 12 February 2021 15:08, UK
Novak Djokovic's hopes of winning an unprecedented ninth Australian Open title are hanging in the balance after suffering a torn stomach muscle during his third-round five-set win against Taylor Fritz.
Djokovic took the opening two sets and appeared on course for a comfortable win, but he took a tumble at the back of the blue court early in the third set and hurt his side.
The top seed took a medical timeout before being visited again by the trainer for more treatment later, but the eight-time champion somehow battled through to a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2 victory.
Djokovic said he had torn a stomach muscle which, if confirmed, will surely end his bid for a ninth title ahead of his match against Canadian 14th seed Milos Raonic on Sunday.
The Serbian cut a gloomy figure when quizzed about continuing in the tournament.
He said: "I really don't know, my friend. Right now, 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 gonna step out onto the court or not. I am just very proud of this achievement tonight. Let's see what happens tomorrow."
Fritz won the third set before play was halted 11.30pm local time and fans asked to leave in order to comply with a new five-day lockdown in Melbourne.
After a short delay, while fans made their way to the exits, play resumed but Djokovic was still struggling and was grimacing in pain at times.
The 23-year-old Fritz took advantage to send the match into a deciding fifth set where he looked favourite to make it through.
But Djokovic, despite still looking in discomfort, did enough to win the deciding set and live to fight another day.
"Everything was working fine for me and then at the beginning of the third set I made this quick move on the return going to the forehand, rotating there, and I just felt a tear, I felt something happen," Djokovic said.
"I went out for medical timeout when I was tested, evaluated. I have huge pain, I took the highest dose of anti-inflammatories possible. It did kick in end of fourth, beginning of the fifth when I actually started to move and I could actually start to rally with him from back of the court.
"I honestly don't know how I won this match. I'm very proud, at the same time sad and worried, because it's definitely something serious happening with my injury."
Djokovic later confirmed he would not train ahead at Melbourne Park on Saturday and will instead take advice on what the next course of action should be ahead of his match against Raonic.
He said: "I don't have much time to recover for the next match. I'm definitely not training tomorrow. I'm coming here to evaluate further more with doctor and medical team, do an ultrasound and understand what's really going on so that the doctor and medical team can prescribe the best possible treatment and the only possible treatment that I could even have the slightest chance to go out in less than 48 hours."
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