Djokovic says wrist struggles ‘won’t impact’ hunt for 11th AO title

Novak Djokovic is confident any problems with his wrist will be sorted by the time the 2024 Australian Open starts on January 14 in Melbourne, despite his injury struggles torpedoing Serbia’s United Cup chances this week.

The world no.1 is hunting an immense eleventh Australian Open crown this month and all eyes have been on his preparation as the building up to the year’s first major hits fever pitch.

Djokovic, who is currently reigning Australian Open, French Open, and US Open champion, was blindsided by a wrist injury in training ahead of Serbia’s quarterfinal matchup against the home team in the United Cup in Perth. While it did play some factor in the 36-year-old’s eventual 6-4 6-4 defeat at the hands of world no.12 Alex de Minaur, Djokovic has allayed concerns by suggesting his wrist “will be okay” come AO round one.

“I think I’ll be okay, to be honest,” Djokovic said post-match.

“No, [it won’t have] not much [of an impact], to be honest. I knew I’m probably not going to be at my 100 percent physically, emotionally, mentally, game-wise, in the opening week of the season. Neither did I expect [losing to De Minaur].

“It’s all part of the build-up for the Australian Open, you know, so that’s where I want to perform at my best. And so again, you know, it’s never nice to lose a match, of course, but, you know, it’s not really going to stay with me much. It did have quite an impact, you know, particularly in the forehand and serve… but again, I don’t want to be spending too much time talking about it and taking away credit for the victory from De Minaur.”

De Minaur won 33 of his 34 first-serve points (a huge 97 percent) while Djokovic struggled across much of the match and did not have a single break point. He took a medical timeout in the match too. Djokovic went on to add De Minaur had been “very solid” in the two-set match.

Now, the world no.1 turns his focus to Melbourne and the 10-day sprint he has to fully prepare his wrist for the campaign. The 2024 Australian Open draw will be held on January 11.

“I have, I think, enough time to get myself in the right shape for the Australian Open and that’s what matters the most at this point,” he said.