Djokovic had to forego his defense of the title on Monday after hurt retiring during his fourth clash against Stan Wawrinka. Speaking to the media later on, he revealed his plans for the rest of the season.
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Shoulder Trouble Forces Djokovic to Quit
Djokovic’s title defense came to a premature end on Monday. Facing Stan Wawrinka for a spot in the quarter finals, he was trailing in the match at 4-6, 5-7, 1-2, when he decided to call it quits.
The world number one has had issues with his shoulder for a few weeks now. During the second round clash against Londero, Djokovic clearly struggled with his shoulder, getting medical treatment during the encounter.
He seemed to have shaken off the injury scare with an emphatic victory over Denis Kudla in the third round. However, despite the scans having shown no major issue, the problem looked to persist. Facing a player of Wawrinka’s pedigree is a tough ask even when fully fit, so it was always going to be bit much to beat him with a busted shoulder.
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Plans for the Rest of the Season
Djokovic revealed that he is hopeful that his season is not over yet. Understandably sad his Grand Slam season ended so abruptly, he was also optimistic of making a return at the end of the month by playing at Japan Open in Tokyo. One of the reasons for his decision to play in Tokyo is to fine-tune his play for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Before all of that comes the assessment of his shoulder though. He said he and his team will make an evaluation of his shoulder and take some treatments to stop the ailment. He was hopeful that a period of rest was going to help remedy it.
The Serb also plans on playing at Shanghai Masters, the ATP Finals and also the Davis Cup Finals that will take place in Madrid. He said he mindful of others catching up to his points tally, especially Nadal, who could take over his number one ranking as the season comes near its end.
He said:
“There is plenty of big tournaments ahead. Ranking-wise many points to defend for me and trying to hold the No. 1 ranking spot. With Rafa Nadal playing well, Roger Federer and other guys, I just hope I get a chance to be competing because if healthy I like my chances in Asia and in the European part of the season as I have historically played well there.”
This type of end to a title defense could easily have plunged him into frustration, he was anything but. He pointed out that he had won two of the four slams this year and also reached the semi-final at Roland Garros, and so he was happy with his season up to now.
He even reiterated his desire to surpass Federer’s Grand Slam tally and expressed his hopes of a very long career still ahead.
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