Djokovic nursing doubts after knee flare-up

Novak Djokovic is expecting to make a last-minute decision on whether he is fit enough to take to the court on today for his Olympic semi-final against Lorenzo Musetti after a knee problem flared.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner who is desperately seeking a career-topping Paris Games gold medal, managed to finish off his Thursday quarter-final over Stefanos Tsitsipas but admitted it took effort to get through.

He was due to face Italy’s Musetti in a re-run of their Wimbledon semi-final won by the Serb; he also won their third-round meeting at the French Open in June.

“I can’t say anything. The first thing I’ll do is meet with my medical team and get some tests done to see how things are going,” Djokovic told Eurosport.

“The positive thing is that I was able to gather the tools to finish the match, but I was also able to finish the round of 16 match at the last Roland Garros and finally I couldn’t play for the next match…”

The 37-year-old nealry two months removed from the keyhole knee procedure he underwent after quitting Roland Garros with right knee problems, said he remains uncertain of his condition.

“I’m not sure at the moment, I just know that I’m happy because I was able to manage those last few moments of the match to win it, but now I’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next one.” 

Djokovic added: “Musetti is in extraordinary form, he’s been to the semi-finals in the last five or six tournaments he has played, that tells you everything. 

“This year we had an amazing match at Roland Garros, we finished around 03:00 in the morning in that third round match, so I just hope to go into this match as well prepared as possible and in good physical shape. 

“Without a doubt, that will be something I will need if I want to have any chance,”