No injury worries for Serbian ahead of Australia Open
Melbourne: Novak Djokovic returned to competitive tennis with a bang Wednesday, bringing a six-month spell on the sidelines to an end with a thumping 6-1, 6-4 win over World No. 5 Dominic Thiem at the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament.
Six-time Australian Open champion Djokovic pulled out of a tournament in Abu Dhabi last week because of continuing problems with his right elbow and wore a sleeve over the joint during his round robin match against the Austrian.
In a huge boost for Melbourne Park organisers, who have already lost Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori to injury, Djokovic showed no obvious discomfort as he broke Thiem three times to win the first set in just 21 minutes.
“It was a great start, it feels really good to be back on the court,” a beaming Djokovic said in an on-court interview after his first competitive set since Wimbledon last year.
“I can’t stop laughing outside and inside. It’s a great joy, I love this sport, it’s a great passion of mine so I missed it. I wasn’t that nervous, although I had that matchplay attitude… I wanted to be back on court, unfortunately the elbow wouldn’t let me last week,” added the former World No. 1
The 30-year-old, who won the year’s first Grand Slam five times in six years until 2016, did not have it all his own way in a tighter second set and it went with serve to 5-4 when Djokovic broke again to wrap up the victory in 42 minutes.
Now ranked 14th in the world after his long absence, the 12-time Grand Slam singles champion will be one to avoid in Thursday’s draw for the Australian Open.
“This has been a tough period for me; obviously injury is the greatest enemy a professional athlete can have. You can’t do anything about it except try to recover as quickly as you can,” the Serbian pointed out.
DelPo dazzles
Argentine Juan Martin del Potro made a confident start to his preparations for the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win Wednesday over Canadian Denis Shapovalov at the Auckland Classic tennis tournament in Auckland.
Former US Open champion Del Potro hit eight aces to breeze past the 18-year-old, who hit 20 winners but committed 40 unforced errors.
Del Potro will next face Russian Karen Khachanov, who beat sixth-seeded Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-2, 7-6(7-4), in the last eight.
“I was surprised by the match today,” said Del Potro, who had lost to Shapovalov in Montreal last August. “I didn’t expect to play at this level in the first match of the year.”
Meanwhile Defending champion Jack Sock lost 6-3, 6-3 in only 61 minutes to his German opponent Peter Gojowczyk, who is ranked 65th in the world.
Injury problems plague Muguruza
Sydney: Garbine Muguruza’s preparations for next week’s Australian Open were thrown into disarray when the World No. 3 pulled out of the Sydney International tennis tournament here due to a leg injury, Wednesday.
Hours after battling past Kiki Bertens 6-3, 7-6(8-6) to advance to the quarterfinals in her opening match, the 24-year-old Spanish top seed withdrew with a right thigh complaint.
“I am disappointed but I have talked to the WTA doctors and my team after the match and following their recommendation, I have decided to withdraw from the tournament,” Muguruza said in a statement.
“I have felt pain in my right adductor since I started practising here. Yesterday (Tuesday), I felt better and wanted to play. However, during the match today the pain has been there all the time but I wanted to compete.”
The Wimbledon champion accepted a wildcard into the tournament after retiring with leg cramps during her opening match at the Brisbane International last week and called for a medical timeout after just three games against Bertens.
Muguruza, however, returned to the Ken Rosewall Arena and appeared to be moving freely, initially allaying fears of another injury setback by overcoming a woman who had beaten her in straight sets in their three previous meetings.
Muguruza’s withdrawal allows Daria Gavrilova a direct route to the semifinals after the Spaniard’s scheduled last eight opponent won an all-Australian clash against Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2.
Elsewhere, Agnieszka Radwanska kept her preparations for the year’s first Grand Slam on track with a 7-6(7-4), 6-0 win over teenage American qualifier CiCi Bellis.
The Polish 28-year-old will meet Camila Giorgi for a place in the last four after the Italian qualifier ousted twice Wimbledon and former Sydney champion Petra Kvitova 7-6(9-7). 6-2.