Novak Djokovic was expected to miss the tournament he has won seven times after having knee surgery less than three weeks ago but now appears almost certain to play; the 37-year-old has been drawn against Vít Kopriva in the first round at Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic has declared himself “pain free” after overcoming Daniil Medvedev in an exhibition match ahead of Wimbledon.
The former world No 1 was expected to miss the tournament he has won seven times after having knee surgery less than three weeks ago but now appears almost certain to play against Vít Kopriva in the first round on Monday.
Djokovic’s movement was not completely perfect in a 6-3 6-4 win over Medvedev at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at Hurlingham, with the 37-year-old, who wore strapping on his right knee, showing a reluctance to push off from that leg when out wide, but he served well and struck the ball crisply.
Asked about his fitness afterwards, the record 24-time Grand Slam winner gave a big sigh before saying: “I can tell you that I enjoyed myself really, really much today.
“I can tell you that pain-free tennis is the best tennis. I was pain-free and I’m really glad. It was a great test obviously against one of the best players in the world.
“I’ve played a couple of practice sets but I really wanted to test myself. The test was very successful so I’m obviously really glad. It’s been an intense three weeks after surgery, spending a lot of hours rehabbing.
“I kind of always wanted to give myself a chance to be in London. I think my surgeon is here. He’s the MVP for sure the last three weeks. I’m trying to take it day by day and see how far it goes.”
