Novak Djokovic will take to Centre Court on Friday aiming to keep his hopes of a 25th Grand Slam alive but the Serbian suffered an injury scare in the quarter-finals
Novak Djokovic cancelled an afternoon training session on the eve of his Wimbledon semi-final with Jannik Sinner as he pursues an eighth championship at the All England Club.
The 38-year-old suffered a nasty looking fall in his quarter-final triumph over Flavio Cobolli, sparking fears over his fitness. And it was later confirmed by Clare Balding that the Serbian superstar had decided not to go ahead with a planned training session on Thursday afternoon.
Speaking during coverage of the women’s semi-finals, she said: “And news on Novak Djokovic is that he has cancelled his first training session. You’ll remember he had that nasty-looking fall yesterday in the closing stages of his match against Flavio Cobolli.
“He has cancelled his first training session. He can reschedule that at any point.”
Sinner also suffered a mishap earlier this week when he hurt his right elbow after slipping in his match against Grigor Dimitrov.
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The world No 1 had heavy strapping on his elbow during his quarter-final triumph over Ben Shelton, who succumbed to the Italian in straight sets.
The battle of the walking wounded will determine whether Djokovic will have a chance to clinch a 25th Grand Slam on Sunday, where the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz, or Taylor Fritz will be waiting on the other side of the net.
Sinner is bidding to make the Wimbledon final for the very first time after falling at the semi-final stage previously.
Djokovic was forced to pull out of his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev because of a leg problem but is hoping his groin issue will not affect his bid for more Wimbledon glory.
“It all happened very quickly… I slipped and I noticed it; the muscle had been bothering me in the fourth set, it was tightening, and then bad luck struck on match point. Even so, I managed to overcome the next two points, which is fantastic.
“It’s not the first or last time I’ve slipped, but it is the first time this year, which is surprising because I’m a player who likes to slide on grass. In the afternoon, there’s more humidity in the air, it becomes more slippery, and the chances of something happening increase.
“In the next 24 or 48 hours, we’ll see the severity of the problem and act accordingly.”
