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Former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport recently expressed her views on Novak Djokovic's wrist niggles. The American believes that the tennis world shouldn't put too much stock in the Serb's struggles in Melbourne, as he always seems to put them behind him.
Novak Djokovic has had a peculiar start to his 2024 season. The Serb was visibly suffering from a wrist injury at the 2024 United Cup and required medical attention for the issue. He was then out of his element upon his arrival in Melbourne, needing four sets to dispatch his first two opponents.
The 24-time Major winner, however, hit a rich vein of form during his third-round match against 30th-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The 36-year-old didn't drop a single service game en route to his 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over the Argentine, in what was a statement to the rest of the field that he's still the man to beat at the 2024 Australian Open.
In that context, the Tennis Channel recently invited Lindsay Davenport on their podcast to elaborate her thoughts on Novak Djokovic's wrist injury contributing to him being slow to get off the blocks this week. The three-time Major winner asserted that while Djokovic's physical conditioning has been suspect in the past, it hasn't stopped him from reigning supreme.
"Yeah, he's really had to spend a lot of energy in the first two rounds. There's also the question about his forearm, his wrist that's been bugging him, kind of caught him in the action in second round," Davenport said on Tennis Channel Live Podcast (39:01). "But again, he seems to have these issues at Majors a lot... we've seen him injured and still come out the winner."
"So we never know how much emphasis to put on it, but certainly in the second-round match, he was sick, he was stretching out his wrist all the time. He just always seems to recover, crazy."
Novak Djokovic previously won the Australian Open despite carrying an injury
This is not the first time Novak Djokovic has come into the Australian Open with an injury. The Serb won the 2021 and the 2023 editions of the tournament whilst carrying an abdominal tear and a hamstring strain respectively.
Djokovic was leading Taylor Fritz by two sets to love in the third round in 2021 before pulling the right side of his abdomen. Although the World No. 1 was able to eventually win the match in a five-set tussle, he struggled to play at his best in his four-set wins over Alexander Zverev and Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals and the fourth round, respectively.
Djokovic, however, put the setback behind him in the last two matches of his campaign, beating Daniil Medvedev and Aslan Karatsev in straight sets to nab his eighth Norman Brooke Challenge Cup.
The Serb was again victorious in Melbourne two years later, despite carrying a hamstring strain in his left leg. He dropped only one set in seven matches to win the title, beating top players like Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev with relative ease in his path.
