Novak Djokovic has canceled his Thursday afternoon practice at Wimbledon, the All England Club confirmed, one day after taking a scary fall in the final game of his win over No. 22 Flavio Cobolli (6-7, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4). Djokovic is set to face No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the semifinals Friday and originally had a practice scheduled for 1-3 p.m. Thursday in preparation.
The 38-year-old can reschedule the practice to later, if he chooses.
Djokovic slipped on the grass Wednesday after a forehand attempt led to a return from Cobolli that hit the net cord and made Djokovic lean to his left. His leg then bent awkwardly on the turf at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club.
Djokovic laid on the turf for a few seconds face down as the crowd at Centre Court was silent while Cobolli went to his opponent’s side and picked up his racket. Djokovic got back up on his own power, wiped his brow and finished out the final two points of the quarterfinal.
“Well, I finished the match” Djokovic said of his injury scare. “Nasty slip, but that’s what happens when you play on grass. I didn’t fall so far this year, and it’s a bit surprising because of the way I move on the grass. And with aggressive movement, you’re expected to fall. It did come at an awkward moment, but I managed to find a good serve and close it out.
“Obviously, I’ll visit this subject now with my physio and will play in a few days.”
Djokovic is targeting his 25th Grand Slam this week and needs two more wins to get there. Djokovic (+650) had the third-best odds to win behind French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz (+110) and Sinner (+190) according to FanDuel Sportsbook at the start of the tournament.
“Whether it could be my ‘last dance,’ I’m not sure … as I’m not sure about Roland Garros or any other Slam that I play next,” Djokovic said before his first-round match last week. “My wish is to play for several more years. I would love to be healthy physically and also mentally motivated to keep on playing at the highest level. That’s the goal. But you never know at this stage.”
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Djokovic lost to Alcaraz in straight sets during last year’s Wimbledon final and last won the event in 2022.
“These tournaments give me the biggest drive, still,” Djokovic said. “I like the way I feel right now, physically. Tennis-wise, I’ve been playing good on the practice sessions. Obviously completely different when you start a tournament. I’ll try to have a very good tournament and go as far as I can.”
Djokovic lost to Sinner in the French Open semifinals earlier this summer and has not won a major since 2023. He now gets an opportunity to return the favor on grass.
“[It] was a straight-set loss, but I feel like I did give him a run for his money, so to say,” Djokovic said at Roland-Garros after falling to the 23-year-old Italian. “I tried to make him work till the last shot. I did what I could. This is sport. You have to just shake the hand of the better player and move on.”
