Ahead of his Wimbledon semifinal match with Jannik Sinner on Friday, Novak Djokovic has canceled his afternoon practice on Thursday.
Prior to the start of Thursday’s semifinal meeting between Iga Światek and Belinda Bencic, doubles legend Pam Shriver provided an update on Djokovic during ESPN‘s live broadcast.
“Djokovic was scheduled 1-3 [p.m.] over at Aorangi with a couple of Wimbledon hitting partners that they employ for the players. Then he moved it from 3 to 4:30, and then news came through [to] the practice partners that they were not needed. They were canceled.”
In the past, Djokovic has canceled scheduled practices leading up to late-round matches in order to prioritize recovery. In this case, however, the cancellation comes on the heels of the seven-time Wimbledon champ suffering a concerning fall in Wednesday’s match with Flavio Cobolli.
The fall, which occurred in the final game of the match, saw Djokovic’s right leg slip out from beneath him following a split-step. This led to the all-time great’s weight coming down awkwardly on his left leg as he fell into the splits.
You can see a replay of the fall during Djokovic’s on-court interview below:
Novak Djokovic comments on his fall in the final game of the match
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Novak Djokovic Opens Up on “Nasty Slip” in QF Match
Despite falling late in his match against Cobolli, Djokovic was able to secure a win and move one step closer to the Wimbledon Final.
Following the win, he spoke with members of the press about the fall during his post-match press conference, indicating that while a fall of that nature isn’t unexpected on grass, he’ll likely feel the after-effects tomorrow:
“It was a nasty fall. It was very awkward. That happens on grass. I’ve had quite a few of those throughout my grass-court career.
“Obviously, [my] body is not the same today like it was before, so I guess the real impact or effect of what happened I will feel tomorrow. So let’s see. I’m hoping the next 24, 48 hours, the severity of what happened is not too bad, that I’ll be able to play at my best and free of pain in two days.”
You can see his comments in the video below begining at the 7:08 mark.
Looking at Djokovic’s Head-to-Head With Sinner Ahead of SF Match
Heading into Novak Djokovic’s semifinal match with Jannik Sinner, an interesting trend has emerged.
Sinner has won four of the last five meetings with Djokovic, taking a 5-4 lead in the head-to-head.
In their most recent meeting in the semifinal round of Roland Garros at the beginning of June, the World No. 1 picked up a straight-set win over Djokovic, earning a spot in the French Open Final.
Despite that, Sinner has never defeated Djokovic on grass, with the seven-time champ winning both of their previous meetings at SW19 in 2022 and 2023.
Interestingly enough, a trend has emerged when looking at the head-to-head records of Sinner, Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz.
Over their last five matches, Sinner is 4-1 over Djokovic, who is 4-1 over Carlos Alcaraz, who is 5-0 against Sinner.
Whether Djokovic can break the trend and defeat Sinner to advance to the final, only time will tell.
Novak Djokovic Injury Update | Seven-Time Champ Cancels Practice on Thursday