'I want to go for the title', says Novak Djokovic ahead of Wimbledon

LONDON: Jelena Djokovic posed a question to her husband as he fast-tracked his recovery from knee surgery, rushing to compete at Wimbledon, where he is already a seven-time champion. Mrs Djokovic, a constant presence at courtside, only verbalised the query on every connoisseur’s mind. The 37-year-old Serbian, who has won 24 major titles, but is yet to win an Olympic gold, earlier in the year labelled the 2024 Summer Games a priority for himself. Yet, here he was, seeking counsel – from Taylor Fritz to Stan Wawrinka to champion Alpine ski racer Lindsay Vonn – after his right knee went under the knife to repair a torn medial meniscus in Paris, in a highway-chase to match fitness. There should be more Wimbledons for Djokovic in the next couple of years, but who knows if there’ll be another Olympic Games for him? Why the rush then? Why the unnecessary risk? Djokovic conceded that the question, when posed to him again at his pre-championship press-conference, was fair.“I wouldn't call it a fear of missing out,” Djokovic argued. “It’s this incredible desire to play, particularly because it is Wimbledon. The thought of me missing Wimbledon was just not correct. It's probably less of a rational or logical explanation, but more of an inner feeling of a great desire to play Wimbledon.” Djokovic, seeded two, faces Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva in the first round.“I wanted to see how fast I can recover, be in a condition to compete at best-of-five on grass,” Djokovic said. “I didn't come here to play a few rounds and prove to myself that I can actually compete in one or two matches. I want to go for the title. Djokovic, who finds himself in an unlikely situation, as he’s yet to win a title this season at the halfway stage, is aware that his next tournament is the Olympics on clay.“We put in a huge amount of hours into rehab in the last three weeks, raising the level of intensity of training and rehab every single day,” he said. “I haven't had any setbacks. If I had one setback, I would be then questioning whether I should be here or not. But I haven't had a single one. Why not give it a shot?”Djokovic -- who could play Tomas Etchebverry in the third round, and Holger Rune in the fourth is projected to meet seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals -- arrived in this leafy suburb a week ago, sporting a knee brace.“It's been a good week of training, particularly the last three days. I played practice sets played with (Jannik) Sinner, Frances Tiafoe, (Daniil) Medvedev and Emil Ruusuvuori and Holger Rune,” he said. “The knee has responded very well so far, that’s why I decided to be in the draw.The Serbian, seeded to play fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, is in the lighter half of the men’s draw, which gives him an opportunity to play himself into the tournament.Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and the world No.1 Jannik Sinner headline the top–half and are seeded to meet in the semifinals.