Novak Djokovic stormed into the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters, but not without an injury scare. The 38-year-old Serbian great struggled in almost every match.
He even fell on the court a couple of times after one excruciating rally, losing the second set of his fourth-round match, and was seen by the physio on a few occasions. But he’s still through to the last four.
On Thursday, he beat Zizou Bergs in straight sets, but his struggle was apparent. After the match, a concerned Djokovic said something was “happening with the body” in every match he played.
Djokovic is chasing his first ATP Masters 1000 title in two years and is only two wins away from winning the title. He is also the favourite to win the title in the absence of Jannik Sinner, who forfeited his third-round match against Tallon Griekspoor at 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 3-2 down, and Carlos Alcaraz, who gave the tournament a miss after suffering an injury en route to winning the Japan Open.
The oldest man on the court in Shanghai, Djokovic received treatment for what appeared to be an Achilles injury in the fourth round on Tuesday. Although his leg felt fine in the quarters, he admitted he was facing plenty of “issues” virtually every day.
After winning his semifinal clash 6-3, 7-5, Djokovic said, “I assure you it wasn’t easy. No win is easy at this level. Zizou Bergs has been playing some terrific tennis this tournament. I think it would be disrespectful towards him to say it was easy. It was a tough-earned victory in two sets.
“My leg was good. There’s always something happening with the body pretty much every match that I play right now. There’s some other issues that I’m trying to address day by day, and hopefully it’s going to get better as the tournament progresses.
“I have a day off before my semi-final, so that’s really good. Yeah, I’m going to come back with, of course, the right attitude and intention to win,” said Djokovic, who will face Valentin Vacherot in the semifinals on Saturday.