Novak Djokovic, the top seed at Wimbledon and the 2011 champion, says his left shoulder is fine after he took an awkward fall in the third set of his victory Friday over Gilles Simon.
“Yes, it was a sharp pain when I fell,” he told the BBC after his 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 third-round win. “It was an awkward fall. I was just hoping there was nothing going on bad in the joint. And luckily there is no damage in the joint. I could play a few games after that and just the muscle was quite sore because of the impact. All in all I’m just very glad to get through.”
With Simon serving at 2-3, 40-30 in the third set, Djokovic tumbled to the ground while trying to return a forehand and rolled on his left shoulder, causing John McEnroe to speculate on air that the Serb might have separated his shoulder. Djokovic appeared to be in serious pain and then called for the ATP trainer.
The trainer worked on his shoulder for 7 1/2 minutes while the crowd, including Djokovic’s coach Boris Becker, looked on with grave concern. A tournament doctor then came out and consulted with Djokovic and the trainer. Djokovic ultimately took what appeared to be a pain killer and then returned to play.
Simon won the game, but Djokovic held serve in the next game and closed out the match in straight sets with no difficulty.
Next up is a fourth-round match Monday against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, against whom Djokovic holds a 12-5 career edge.
“Now there is two days of and I’m going to try to recover, get ready,” Djokovic said. “Next one I think is Tsonga so it’s going to be a great matchup for both of us.”
Djokovic, who lost in last year’s final to Andy Murray, could face a rematch with Murray in the semifinals.
“I’m just very happy to get into the second week,” Djokovic said.
“It’s obvious that as the tournament progresses you’re going to encounter some high-ranked players who have more experience playing on a big stage like Tsonga for example, who has a been a regular here in Wimbledon in the last couple years in the second week. He has played a couple semifinals….
“It’s going to be a definitely big challenge for the both of us.”
