Djokovic upbeat for Wimbledon after testing knee to maximum

Iga Swiatek of Poland plays a backhand on June 29, 2024 in London during practice before Wimbledon. (Photo: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)

By Reuters

30 Jun 2024

Novak Djokovic has overcome a knee injury in a bid for an eighth Wimbledon title.

Seven-times champion Novak Djokovic says he has tested his troublesome knee to the maximum since arriving in London and is confident he will be ready for his opening match at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old withdrew from the French Open before his quarterfinal with a torn meniscus and opted to have surgery in a bid to be fit for the year’s third Grand Slam.

“When that happened in the fourth round of Roland Garros, I made a very quick decision to make surgery, I was very much in doubt of making Wimbledon,” Djokovic told reporters on Saturday.

“I arrived here on Sunday. It’s been a week of training. Very good week of training. I had, particularly the last three days, very intense tennis sessions. I had points, practice sets played with (Jannik) Sinner, with Frances Tiafoe, with (Daniil) Medvedev yesterday, and Emil Ruusuvuori and then today with (Holger) Rune, as well.

“Really top players that are playing great tennis on grass. High intensity. Lots of I guess situations on the court where the knee is tested to almost the maximum.

“The knee has responded very well to all of that so far, which of course then is a great sign for my participation in Wimbledon. That’s why I decided to be in the draw.”

Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand on 30 June 2024 in London during practice before Wimbledon. (Photo: Sean M Haffey / Getty Images)

Serbian Djokovic, who is bidding for a record 25th Grand Slam title, said he would have a better idea when he has tested the knee in a match situation.

“Obviously, once the tournament starts, I’ll have more sensations and more feedback from how my knee reacts to a best-of-five Grand Slam match,” he said.

Djokovic said missing Wimbledon would have been tough to take.

“I wouldn’t call it a fear of missing out. I would just say it’s this incredible desire to play, just to compete,” he said.

“Particularly, because it is Wimbledon, the tournament that always has been a dream tournament for me when I was a kid. Just the thought of missing Wimbledon was just not correct.

“I didn’t want to deal with that. If I had one setback, I would be then questioning whether I should be here or not. But I haven’t had a single one. Why not give it a shot?”

Second seed Djokovic opens his bid for a men’s record-equalling eighth Wimbledon crown on Tuesday against Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva.

Sinner leads Italian renaissance

sinner wimbledon Jannik Sinner of Italy plays a backhand on 30 June 2024 in London during practice before Wimbledon. (Photo: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)

Millions of Italians will be tuning into Wimbledon to root for Jannik Sinner, Italy’s first top seed in the tournament’s history.

Sinner, who this month snatched the world number one ranking from Djokovic, geared up perfectly for the challenge when he won his first grass court trophy at Halle in Germany last weekend.

Yet while the ginger-haired 22-year-old is grabbing most of the headlines, he is only the tip of the iceberg in a much broader Italian tennis renaissance, with a flourishing grassroots movement and seven men in the world’s top 60.

That strength in depth is matched only by the United States, which has the same number of top-60 players, while France and Russia boast five and Argentina four.

The Italians on average are younger, however, ensuring a pool of talent for years to come. Of the nine Italian men in the top 100, six are between 20 and 23 years old.

The turnaround has been dramatic for a nation that has traditionally struggled to produce top-tier performers. Until Sinner won this year’s Australian Open no Italian man had lifted a Grand Slam trophy since Adriano Panatta in Paris in 1976.

In 2010, the country still had no men in the world’s top 50 and only three in the top 100.

So what is Italy’s secret?

Angelo Binaghi, who has headed the Italian tennis federation (FITP) since 2001, pointed to reforms over the past 10-15 years to decentralise the coaching system and offer more financial, technical and psychological support to young talent.

Close to home

This involved ditching the previous system in which promising youngsters, often under the age of 16, were sent to be coached at two national training centres.

Instead, budding stars are now left to develop with their own coaches at home, backed up by a network of intermediate training centres around the country, while private coaches are advised and kept abreast of new methods by the federation’s “super-coaches”.

“Everything is happening faster than we could have imagined,” Binaghi told Reuters. “Countries that were much more developed than us in the past, like France, have come here numerous times to study what we are doing.”

Michelangelo dell’Edera, Italy’s Davis Cup team manager and the head of the FITP’s Under-16 training sector, said the new decentralised approach had united coaches, the federation, private clubs, families and players.

“It’s been extraordinary, and somewhat unusual for Italian people who are individualistic by nature,” he said.

The restructuring of the coaching system has accompanied a surge in grassroots participation, fuelled by high-profile success stories like Sinner’s Australian Open triumph, Italy’s 2023 Davis Cup victory and Matteo Berrettini becoming the first Italian to reach the Wimbledon final in 2021.

The number of registered club players has leapt from around 129,000 in 2001 to 820,000 last year, making tennis the second most popular participation sport in the country after soccer.

“We took over Italian tennis when it was on the brink of bankruptcy, today I believe we can say that we are at the top of the world,” Binaghi said.

The FITP now has its sights on exceeding a million registered players, he added, meaning more cash for the federation which in turn leads to more facilities, coaching centres and tournaments.

Swiatek ready

swiatek wimbledon Iga Swiatek of Poland plays a backhand on June 29 2024 in London during practice before Wimbledon. (Photo: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)

Women’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek is approaching Wimbledon a little differently this time around after skipping all the tune-up tournaments, but the top seed thinks it’s the best possible move for her as she bids to win her maiden crown at the All England Club.

For all her achievements over the past few seasons, the five-times Grand Slam champion remains largely unproven on grass courts with none of the 22 singles titles in her vast cabinet coming on the surface.

Having been handed a quarterfinal defeat by wildcard Elina Svitolina last year, the 23-year-old Pole will look to improve on that when she begins her Wimbledon campaign against former world number four Sofia Kenin on Tuesday.

“At the beginning, for sure it was tricky,” Swiatek told reporters when asked how she felt about her Wimbledon preparations on Saturday.

“I’m happy that I came here early because there is a huge difference between the grass that we have in our own country, for example, and here.

“Day after day I felt like I’m getting more rhythm and I can really feel the ball better. I feel good. For sure we approached this year a little bit differently basically because of the amount of matches that I played in the first part of the season.”

Fresh off her fourth French Open crown, the world number one withdrew from the Berlin Ladies Open earlier in the month, citing overall physical and mental fatigue after an intense nine weeks.

“I could probably squeeze in one more tournament before Wimbledon, but I don’t know if I would be able to physically be in a good shape till the end of the year,” Swiatek added.

“You kind of have to choose what’s better also for the future. I think that was [a] smarter decision this year. Next year we’re also going to see how my results are going to look like before Roland-Garros because it all comes up to the final decision.” Reuters/DM

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Sinner leads Italian renaissance

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