Novak Djokovic sealed a hard-fought 6-4, 6(4)-7(7), 6-2, 6-3 win vs Cameron Norrie, on Saturday in the third round of the ongoing 2025 US Open. The Serbian ace had fitness issues during the match, and also overcame an injury scare. The match lasted for two hours and 49 minutes, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
When he was leading 5-4 in the first set, Djokovic left the court for a medical timeout, due to a back issue and looked to be in visible discomfort. He also received some treatment in the second set. He also had fitness issues in the opening two rounds.
Speaking after his win vs Norrie, he told ESPN, “Well, honestly I am concerned. You know, nowadays [I am] more concerned than I have ever been.”
“Even though I really am meticulous with the care for my body and I put in a lot of hours on and off the court to make sure that my body is fit and recovered well.
“But you know, age is… you can’t fight it. So things are different. I have to obviously adjust myself the way I approach things training.
“Sometimes I don’t train between matches because with my team when I have this discussion, we think that long term is better and that recovery is more important than hitting some balls in the court.
“So maybe that’s going to be the case tomorrow. We have to still discuss that and just focus on recovery and get ready for next one,” he further added.
He also revealed the duration he spends on recovery between matches. He said, “Actually probably even more when I was younger; it’s just in order to keep up with the youngsters I just have to put an extra, extra hour, extra few hours every day.”
“Whether it’s table work, whether it’s recovery from using different wellness machines or good sleep, nutrition, obviously all of it, all of it comes into equation and all of it matters when you go deeper in the tournament.
“The young guys, they come in fresh and I come with a half tank empty in a sense and so I’m going to try to change that for this tournament. I don’t know if that’s going to be possible.
“Obviously, it’s very unpredictable how the body is going to respond. But one thing is for sure, I’m always going to give my very best the last drop of energy to make sure that I go as deep as I possibly can,” he added.
