Novak Djokovic has issued clarification days after a video of him limping to the airport in Doha surfaced following his exit. The Serb noted that he’d bumped his ankle, which resulted in the hobbling.
Djokovic has arrived in Indian Wells for the 2025 BNP Paribas Open. His previous competitive appearance came at the Qatar Open, where he suffered a rare first-round loss to Matteo Berrettini, 7-6(4), 6-2.
Following the defeat, a video of him limping to the airport in Doha came to light, with many fans and experts alike suggesting that the Serb had yet to recover from his left hamstring tear that was responsible for his Australian Open mid-match retirement.
During his pre-tournament press conference at Indian Wells, though, Novak Djokovic declined the narrative, assuring that he was feeling “completely fine.”
“Yeah, I saw that (the video). No, it was something different, actually. It was not an injury,” he said.
“The injury is behind me. I mean, hopefully. I haven’t felt any problems prior to Doha, end of Doha tournament I felt completely fine, as I have felt in the lead-up to Indian Wells, my training weeks.”
“It was really awkward to see that video, because I arrived to the airport and I hit myself really badly as I was walking out, because it was very early, I think, 4:00 or 5:00 AM,” he clarified.
He reiterated that his injury wasn’t connected to the tear he suffered in Melbourne.
“I was just limping because I hit myself badly in the ankle. That’s all. It was just a hit. It was nothing else. But then people connected it to the injury and thought it was something escalating and coming back,” he said.
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