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World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has blamed quarantine for a number of injuries at the Australian Open. Djokovic, who suffered a strain injury in the Australian Open third round, managed to continue the tournament and on Tuesday he beat Alexander Zverev to make the semifinal.
No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal has also made the quarterfinal despite dealing with a back injury but Matteo Berrettini and Grigor Dimitrov weren't that lucky. “Well, what we are seeing is not normal,” Djokovic said after beating Zverev, per Tennis Majors.
“It’s not something we are used to. Top players are the ones that are fittest. It has been proven in the past that that’s the case. “Now you have Berrettini, even Rafa coming in with a back injury, myself, Sascha, as well, struggled, Dimitrov.
I mean, obviously it has something to do with these kind of circumstances that we were in. I mean, coming into a Grand Slam and a tournament before the Grand Slam just right after 14 days’, 15 days’ quarantine. I mean, for some guys it was even tougher than it was for me and maybe some of the other top guys, I mean, for sure.
I can’t complain comparing to some of the players that couldn’t exit their room for 14 days.' '
Djokovic wasn't in quarantine
Djokovic was preparing in Adelaide, while 72 players were placed in hard quarantine in Melbourne.
But even Djokovic didn't have a perfect preparation and it resulted in him picking up an injury during the tournament. “But, you know, I don’t want to sit here, complain about what we have been through, but we have to be honest and realistic that it has an effect on the physical well-being of players. Of course also mental, emotional, but physically, I mean, this is not normal,'' Djokovic added.
