Djokovic’s Fitness to be Tested in 2 Exhibition Events

Former world number 1, Novak Djokovic’s fitness will be assessed by the Serb after a long injury break. He will participate in two exhibition tournaments in the coming week before deciding on playing at the Australian Open. The 30-year-old was out of action for the last six months with an elbow injury. It forced him to pull out of recent events in Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

Djokovic will be participating in the Kooyong Classic and the Tie Break Tens evening exhibition at Melbourne Park. All this will be squeezed into the week leading up to the Australian Open.

The Serb won the last of his 12 Grand Slam titles at the 2016 French Open. He has a wonderful track record at the Australian Open having won it six times. Djokovic last played in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in July. Sadly he was forced to retire against Czech player Tomas Berdych. Since then, he has not played any competitive tennis. Following the exhibition matches, it remains to be seen is Djokovic’s fitness will see him at the Australian Open.

He was scheduled to play in the Mubadala WTC exhibition in Abu Dhabi last week. Hours before his match with Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut he had to pull out. The pain in his right elbow flared up and he also withdrew from the Qatar Open in Doha.

Meanwhile, world number 22 Kei Nishikori will be forced to skip the 2018 Australian Open however with a wrist injury. The Japanese player is a three-time quarter-finalist in Melbourne. Nishikori has not played a single match since August, he admitted that he was not yet ready to compete over five sets. The 29-year old said, “It hurts that I will have to miss it. My rehab is going well but I am just not ready 100%”

The Australian Open begins in Melbourne on 15 January and a number of big guns have dropped out or are in doubt.