Djokovic shrugs off injury concerns ahead of French Open semi-finals

NOVAK Djokovic struggled with injury while defeating Pablo Carreno Busta in the French Open quarter-finals on Wednesday but he insists he will be fine.

Djokovic was defaulted at the US Open last month with Carreno Busta on the other side of the net and on Wednesday at Roland Garros the Serb was physically out of sorts for more than a set before seeing off the Spaniard 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to reach a 10th semi-final on the red clay of Paris.

At three hours, 13 minutes, it was comfortably Djokovic’s longest match of the tournament so far and marked the first occasion he dropped a set.

Djokovic had a tape at the back of his neck from the outset — he suffered neck issues in August at the Western & Southern Open — and repeatedly tugged at his left bicep in the first hour on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Further, he shook his left arm more than once.

Later, he 33-year-old world No.1 confirmed the neck and shoulder were bothering him.

“Well, I definitely didn’t feel great coming into the court today,” Djokovic told the official Roland Garros website. “Few things happened in the warm-up. I had to deal with those physical issues coming onto the court. As the match went on, I felt better, didn’t feel as much pain.

“But I don’t want to take away anything from his good performance. Especially for a set and a half he was the better player, dictating the play. I was very neutral. I didn’t have much energy really happening in my legs or movement or game itself.”

Djokovic’s health woes are sure to have people wondering whether it could affect his quest to become the first man in the Open Era to win each of the Grand Slams at least twice.

His opponent in the last four is a player who has beaten him twice in five meetings, Greece’s sixth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“Obviously, I’m still in the tournament, so I don’t want to reveal too much,” Djokovic said of his injury concerns. “I’m feeling OK. I think as the match progressed, I warmed up my body, and the pain kind of faded away. It allowed me to play better and better and feel better.”

Glancing ahead to the semi-finals, he said he was “hopefully going to be able to feel my best and play my best”.