«I've been suffering for several days, sometimes with intense pain and sometimes with less. It fluctuates up and down. What happened on the track, as I felt, was quite hard and unpredictable. This is how Novak Djokovic explained in a press conference the physical problems in his left shoulder that complicated the game against Argentina's Juan Ignacio Londero, who won 6-4, 7-6 (3) and 6-1 to enter the third United States Open round.

The intense season begins to take its toll on world number 1, which in the recent Cincinnati tournament already complained of problems in the right elbow after beating Lucas Pouille in the quarterfinals. He would fall to Daniil Medvedev the next day.

«It bothers me when executing the serve and hitting the reverse. I didn't even know if I could finish the game, ”he said after beating Londero, number 56 in the world. It attracts attention 51% of success with the first service, within discrete statistics, with 35 winning strokes and 34 unforced errors.

The extent of the inconvenience suffered in New York will be seen with the passing of the conference. The truth is that the defender of the title required twice for medical attention: when he won 4-3 in the first set and with 0-3 down in the second, after Londero had broken his service twice. "I will put my arm in ice and do nothing for two days," said Nole, highlighting the advantage of having a rest day between games and matches in the majors.

Champion in Madrid, in addition to taking the two greats in Melbourne and London, has played 47 games so far this season, with 40 wins.

Reborn after his most serious injury

Since the right elbow injury that he finally decided to have surgery in February 2018, the Serbian has not been forced to stop. She had him out of competition for more than six months and the difficulties to rub shoulders with the elite were about to compromise their continuity in the circuit. Overcame the crisis. And how. Since his triumph at Wimbledon last year, he has won four of the last five majors, the most recent to raise the cup for the fifth time at the All England Club.

It is almost tradition that it reaches its best tone as these types of tournaments progress. At 32, Djokovic knows how to manage energy well and does not usually waste forces until definitive trances. It happened this year at the Australian Open, where he rolled Nadal in the final after a discreet performance in the previous rounds.

Nor in Wimbledon he developed with special brilliance, but he was more accurate in the decisive moments against Federer, taking the three playoffs in dispute and saving two match points in the longest final of the professional era.

Djokovic regulates. Last year a set had already been left after having a hard time in the first round, against Martin Fucsovics. In the current edition of the US Open, even without showing off, it has passed the first two instances without giving up a partial and, if its injury is not aggravated, it will improve depending on the difficulties, which will not be few in a picture by which Medvedev appears, who has already defeated him this year twice, in a hypothetical quarterfinals, before a possible semifinal match against a Federer who seems to continue turning to the traumatic defeat at Wimbledon.

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  • Novak Djokovic
  • Roger Federer
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