Tennis player Novak Djokovic will represent Serbia at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, despite being injured at Roland Garros two weeks ago and even undergoing surgery on his right knee.
“Novak Djokovic (third in the ATP ranking) and Dusan Lajovic (56th) meet the conditions of the ATP ranking and have confirmed their participation” in the Olympic Games, the Serbian Olympic Committee said.
The Olympics run from July 26 to August 11, leaving the 37-year-old just over a month to recover from a medial meniscus problem that forced him to undergo surgery on June 3.
Two days earlier, the seasoned tennis player was forced to run a marathon of more than four hours to come from behind and beat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in five sets (6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5 and 6-6). 3), in the fourth round of the French clay tournament, the second Grand Slam tournament of 2024.
Not wanting interventions, surgeries and vaccines (he refused to take a drug against convid-19), the Serbian took anti-inflammatory drugs, which turned out to be useless: forced to refuse, he would thereby fail his clash with the Norwegian Casper Ruud in the next round.
The Serbian’s withdrawal cost the three-time Paris champion (2016, 2019 and 2023) and record Grand Slam title holder with 24 titles to top the rankings, lifting Italian Jannik Sinner to world number one.
“The Olympic Games in Paris are very important, they have always been a priority for me,” the athlete said in April, before the tournament in Monte Carlo.
At Paris 2024, Novak Djokovic is seeking an unprecedented gold medal, the only trophy missing from the most decorated athlete in history, who won a bronze medal at Beijing 2008.
His recovery at Wimbledon, another of the four Grand Slams he won seven times between July 1 and July 14, is unlikely.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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