"I would be shocked if he plays a best-of-five match" - Former British No.1 speaks on Djokovic's chances at Wimbledon
ATP
Although Novak Djokovic recently revealed he has a chance to play at Wimbledon next week, former British No.1 Laura Robson remains skeptical about the Serbian's speed of recovery.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion suffered a torn meniscus at the 2024 French Open three weeks ago, prompting him to withdraw from the tournament. After undergoing surgery, Djokovic announced his intentions to compete at the summer Olympics. However, it was his revelation that he could still compete at next week's Wimbledon Grand Slam that has the tennis community buzzing.
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After undergoing surgery on June 5, the 37-year old revealed appears to be making a remarkable recovery and has now had two practice sessions at the All England Club.
"I’m going to take it day by day and then make a decision based over the next four or five, six days and if I know that I can play close to my maximum or at maximum, then I’ll play if not, then give somebody else a chance to play,” said Djokovic on Monday.
Djokovic has until Friday morning to make a final decision on his participation at Wimbledon, where he has been named as the No 2 seed. Upon hearing the news of his recovery, Robson gave her opinion on Djokovic's chances of competing at SW19.
“Honestly, it would be a miracle if he plays,” said Robson in an interview. “I remember Taylor Fritz had a similar situation where he had surgery on his knee and played Wimbledon three weeks later and ended up doing pretty well, all things considered, but he is ten years younger and I’m sure things get harder at the age of 37.
“I would be shocked if he plays a best-of-five match, but this is Novak. If he is in the draw and he feels like he can have a good run at it, then you can’t rule him out. He had not had his best season, but we have seen him have periods where his form dips and then he comes back and wins again. That is what Djokovic has done throughout his career.
“I would be shocked if he plays a best-of-five match, but this is Novak. If he is in the draw and he feels like he can have a good run at it, then you can’t rule him out. He had not had his best season, but we have seen him have periods where his form dips and then he comes back and wins again. That is what Djokovic has done throughout his career.
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“Novak will only play at Wimbledon if he believes he can win and he is always going to be a threat whenever he is in the draw. He is Djokovic for a reason. At this stage of his career and when he has won everything there is to win, there would be zero point in going through the motions.
“He could be at home and literally doing anything else in his life, but he is at Wimbledon this week and he is seeing what he can do. He would not be here unless he believed he could have a big chance of winning."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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