Novak Djokovic refuses to answer question and makes more complaints about Rome

Novak Djokovic refused to go into details about a potential injury after he was forced to delay his Rome Masters match against Cameron Norrie. The world No 1 was said to have pulled a muscle during his morning warm-up, prompting him to go straight to the treatment room. And Djokovic was also unhappy with the availability of practice courts, having previously complained about the courts in Rome.

Djokovic’s round-of-16 match was briefly delayed on Tuesday as cameras picked up Norrie waiting for his opponent in the corridor. Pundits quickly learned that the top seed was in the treatment room when he was due on court, which pushed the match back by a few minutes.

Several commentators claimed the Serb pulled a shoulder muscle during his practice session ahead of the match but Djokovic himself later refused to answer what the physical issue was. “Well, yes, I had something, but don’t want to talk about that too much,” he said after clinching a 6-3 6-4 win.

Djokovic also revealed that he got the green flag for his treatment to cut into the walk-on time, adding: “I got the permission from supervisor to have an extra seven, eight minutes, and that’s all it was.”

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And the six-time former champion in Rome took aim at the practice conditions at the tournament ahead of his early match, as he was first on court at 11am Italian time. “We had a late warmup today,” he started.

“The courts, practice courts, there were only two practice courts available to practice for so many players. It was not an ideal preparation for the match. I finished my warmup 10 minutes before the match. It was cold. Try to do everything in time. That’s it.”

And it’s not the first time this tournament that the 22-time Major champion has complained about the courts, as he has been heard asking for the clay to be swept across all three of his matches so far. In his opening round against Tomas Etcheverry, Djokovic branded the centre court an “absolute disaster”.

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He added: “It seems like there’s a lot of, like too much clay. Half a metre in and half a metre out, there’s really a lot of clay.” And Djokovic again asked for the court to be swept in his match against Grigor Dimitrov and in his clash with Norrie.

Although Djokovic played coy about his injury woes in his press conference, he did hint that there had been multiple issues during his on-court interview. “You know, every day is something,” he said after the match.

“Thankfully I was able to day and finish the match so hopefully [next round] I will feel even better.” While it’s not known what issues Djokovic was referring to, the Serb recently missed the Madrid Open because of an elbow injury. He was also seen holding his stomach and spitting in his match against Etcheverry, prompting his team to give him a tablet.

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