Australian Open 2024: Novak Djokovic Suffers Wrist Injury Scare in Perth, Opts Out Of Mixed Doubles Match

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With less than two weeks to go for the Australian Open 2024, defending champion Novak Djokovic suffered a wrist injury scare while representing Serbia in Perth during a tournament on Tuesday (December 2).

Novak Djokovic, in the hunt for his record 25th Grand Slam and 11th Australian Open titles, overcame the wrist issue to beat Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-1 and send Serbia through to the United Cup mixed team quarterfinals.

The top-ranked Serbian was experiencing wrist pain during practice on Tuesday morning, necessitating extensive care from his physiotherapist. It was fortunate for Djokovic to be allowed to play his singles match after Marketa Vondrousova, the Wimbledon champion, upset Olga Danilovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to give the Czechs a 1-0 lead.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion had won the first set and was up 3-1 in the second, so he was expected to win easily against Lehecka. However, as the match went on, Djokovic's wrist issues became worse, and he began to commit a number of uncharacteristic unforced errors. Djokovic took a medical timeout after losing the second-set tiebreak, but he came out strongly with a double break in the third set to seal victory.

"I managed to play through," Djokovic said of his injury. "It's not the first time or the last time, these things happen. You have to find a solution, and thankfully, I managed to finish the match and let's see what happens now."

Because Serbia was guaranteed a quarterfinal position and Djokovic wanted to take it easy on his wrist, the 36-year-old decided not to compete in the mixed doubles. Serbia will advance out of Group C and play Australia in the quarterfinals if it wins the mixed doubles match. As the runner-up in Perth, that would also mean that China advanced to the quarterfinals and disqualify the reigning champion United States of America.

Meanwhile, China would next face Australia after winning the group. Chile won the mixed doubles match 2-1 over Greece at Sydney in the first of two ties on Tuesday.