After taking what Novak Djokovic called “a nasty fall” Wednesday in the final moments of a Wimbledon quarterfinal victory over No. 22 seed Flavio Cobolli, the 38-year-old Serbian star canceled his afternoon practice session Thursday.
No. 6 Djokovic is set to play top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy in a semifinal match Friday.
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Djokovic had been scheduled to practice at Wimbledon’s Aorangi Park from 1-3 p.m. The All England Club confirmed the session was canceled, according to The Associated Press.
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion with seven Wimbledon titles, is allowed to reschedule for a later practice time if he and his team choose to do so.
“Novak Djokovic was supposed to be out on the practice court a couple of times today, but he’s canceled his practices,” Patrick McEnroe said on the ESPN broadcast Thursday.
“So that’s a potentially unsettling sign as he appeared to possibly injure himself at the end of his win yesterday against Cobolli.”
In the fourth set of Wednesday’s quarterfinal match, Djokovic served with a 40-30 lead and a 5-4 advantage. During a subsequent rally with Cobolli, Djokovic appeared to try to shift back left behind the baseline to set up a return. Instead he slid and awkwardly fell, nearly doing a split before collapsing forward momentarily.
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Despite the scare and the lost point, Djokovic finished the match swiftly, advancing to the semis after winning two more points.
“Obviously, [my] body is not the same today like it was before, so I guess the real impact or effect of what happened I will feel tomorrow,” Djokovic said at Wednesday’s news conference, via the AP. “So let’s see. I’m hoping the next 24, 48 hours that the severity of what was happening on the court and what happened is not too bad, that I’ll be able to play at my best and free of pain in two days.”
While a canceled practice session might not be a good sign for Djokovic, it’s not all-telling.
After all, Sinner canceled his practice session a day after hurting his right elbow during a fourth-round win over Grigor Dimitrov. The injury was discussed heavily leading up to Sinner’s quarterfinal match versus No. 10 Ben Shelton, whom Sinner ended up defeating in straight sets Wednesday.
But Djokovic has dealt with in-tournament injuries before, including a knee injury that forced him to withdraw before the 2024 French Open quarters and ultimately required surgery.
