“I began to doubt”: Former Spanish Star praises Novak Djokovic’s resilience after suffering injury in French Open

Former Spanish player Nicolás Almagro has expressed surprise at Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic's reaction to his recent injury. The 37-year-old is often regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the Open era in the singles category, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

According to his high standards, Djokovic is having a difficult 2024 season. The Belgrade-born star has yet to play in the final of any event, and that streak continued in the French Open. He was forced to withdraw from the mega-event after suffering a knee injury just before the start of the quarterfinal against Norway’s Casper Ruud.

Former Spanish player Almagro was recently quoted in a report where he explained how he could not believe seeing Djokovic’s reaction after suffering the injury. He had suffered a similar injury during his playing days, which was not easy for him to cope with.

“I tore my meniscus in a very similar situation,” he recalled. “The gestures I made were very similar to those of Djokovic. It didn’t seem like anything, but when I stood up, I felt very unstable and couldn’t continue. As I saw it, it was clear to me that it was the meniscus. But then I saw him so good in the last set that I began to doubt. Because I couldn’t move and he was as if nothing had happened.”

After suffering that injury, Djokovic underwent surgery, which put his participation in the upcoming mega-events, especially at Wimbledon and the Summer Olympics, at risk. Djokovic has had some promising starts this year but has not managed to continue his form from last year.

It will be interesting to see whether he can bounce back and reclaim the top spot, which he lost to Italy’s Jannik Sinner. The 22-year-old recently became the world number one after an impressive 2024 season, during which he won his first Grand Slam—the Australian Open—in January.