At this time the first day of the 2023 Australian Open is being played. Several matches have been played, we have seen Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner debut with victory, although the news of the day is the official retirement of Nick Kyrgios.
The Australian tennis player, a candidate to be among the great protagonists of the tournament, called an extraordinary press conference to announce his retirement. Nick has suffered knee problems and has confirmed that he will be forced to undergo surgery.
His return is scheduled for next March, probably around the Indian Wells tournament. At the conference, Kyrgios confirmed that he played the exhibition test with Novak Djokovic to check the state of his knee and after the negative feelings (he couldn’t hit the ball hard) he opted for this choice.
This opens the field for Novak Djokovic, the heavy favorite to win the tournament, but in the last few hours there is also a lot of apprehension for the 21-time Grand Slam winner and nine-time winner in Melbourne. In this early part of the season Nole has proven to be the clear favorite to win, he almost dominated the ATP tournament in Adelaide but at the same time raised some concerns.
First in the semifinal against Medvedev and then these days again with the Russian, Nole has suffered some physical problems and in the last few hours there is concern for the tennis player. As reported by the Serbian journalist Sasa Ozmo, very close to the affairs of the former world number one, Novak Djokovic has also canceled today’s training, the reason for which is unknown but is presumed to be a precaution.
Boris Becker praises Djokovic
The great German tennis player Boris Becker, former coach of Novak Djokovic, believes that the Serbian player’s highest priority is to beat Rafael Nadal. «Deep in his soul, Novak wants to become the most successful tennis player of all time,» Boris Becker recently told Eurosport.
«At the moment, that’s Nadal, you have to say it clearly. This Nadal record is the top priority for Djokovic. Anything else would not be credible.» In the last two days, Djokovic has thus skipped both training sessions and will go directly to the opening match, scheduled against the Spanish Roberto Carballes Baena.
Small signs, but worrying for all fans and connoisseurs. Following the retirement of world number one Carlos Alcaraz, the retirement today of Nick Kyrgios and with Rafael Nadal in less than perfect condition, the world of tennis is in crisis for Serbian champion Novak Djokovic.
