World No 1 Novak Djokovic played only one of two scheduled sets in his opening game of the season Friday as he grapples with a nasty bliste...
World No 1 Novak Djokovic played only one of two scheduled sets in his opening game of the season Friday as he grapples with a nasty blister on his racquet hand ahead of the Australian Open.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner didn’t appear for the first set against young Italian Jannik Sinner at an exhibition in Adelaide, just hours after emerging from two weeks’ quarantine, with fellow Serb Filip Krajinovic taking his place.
But with a near full crowd at Memorial Drive, Djokovic said he couldn’t stay away and came on court for the second set, to huge roars.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t step on the court from the beginning. I had to do some treatment with my physio and I wasn’t feeling my best the last couple of days,” the defending Australian Open champion said after winning his set 6-3.
“I didn’t know how I was going to react, but I wanted to play, I wanted to get out here. Thank you so much for making our day and making our year. We didn’t play in front of this big a crowd in 12 months so this is something very special,” he added.
Television pictures showed a raw blister on the palm of his right hand, where he...
