Right at the top - Djokovic rates knee recovery as his latest monumental victory

Former world number one Novak Djokovic has revealed that recovering from a knee surgery quickly is one of his big achievements. The 37-year-old is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic is going through a difficult campaign where he has yet to play in the final of any event. The Belgrade-born star recently suffered a knee injury during the French Open just before the start of the quarterfinal against Norway’s Casper Ruud. That injury forced the current world number two to retire from the event, costing the number one rank in men’s tennis as well.

After that injury, Djokovic underwent surgery, which raised doubts about his participation in mega-events such as Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics. However, the 24-time Grand Slam winner has not only recovered from that injury but has so far stayed alive in the third Grand Slam of the year, where he has booked his place in the semifinal after Australia’s Alex de Minaur was forced to withdraw because of a fitness concern.

Djokovic was quoted in a report where he stated that despite achieving so much in his career, recovering from a knee injury in such a short period of time. “Right at the top, maybe two or three, in terms of the time required for me to come back to the desired level,” he said while talking to Tennis Channel. “It was the first time that I’ve faced this kind of knee injury. I had never had a major knee injury, and unfortunately, injured myself mid-match in the fourth round at Roland-Garros.”

Djokovic will face Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinal of the mega-event on Friday. In the quarterfinal, he defeated America’s Taylor Fritz in a five-set thriller with a score of 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. It will be the seventh meeting between the two in professional tennis. Djokovic came out on top on five occasions in the previous six meetings and suffered just a solitary defeat.