There was a brief delay before Novak Djokovic took to the court to play at the Rome Masters as commentators reported he was in the treatment room. Cameron Norrie could be seen waiting with the top seed still absent before he finally emerged and walked on for their last-16 clash.
Djokovic and Norrie were set to open play on the centre court at the Foro Italico for day seven of ATP main draw action. At 11am Italian time, the pair still hadn’t taken to court and commentators quickly clarified that the top seed was still in the treatment room – raising fears over his fitness.
“There’s a slight delay I can tell you because we’re told that Djokovic is actually in the treatment room so that’s why there’s just a little bit of a delay,” Nick Lester said on Prime. Norrie was seen waiting in the corridors to take to the court before the Serb finally emerged with his team waiting for him.
As the pair took to court a few minutes late, commentators confirmed that the world No 1 had apparently hurt his shoulder in practice earlier this morning and went straight to the treatment room. “We’re hearing – this is all coming to us through our sources backstage – this is the deal,” Lee Goodall told Tennis TV.
“We understand he was warming up, pulled a muscle in his shoulder – crucially we don’t know which shoulder – but obviously not the ideal preparations for a match like this,” he explained.
“He headed straight to the treatment room, that’s why we were delayed a few minutes in getting this match underway so all eyes on how that affects him.” While Djokovic appeared fine when he started playing – breaking Norrie at the first opportunity – he was also heard turning around and communicating with his team during the first changeover.
Djokovic has been struggling with an elbow injury of late, as he was seen wearing support in both Monte Carlo and Banja Luka before pulling out of the recent Madrid Open citing the issue.
In his opening match against Tomas Etcheverry, the top seed also put the support back on after being broken in the first game. He later revealed it was because of the weather, saying: “It was quite cold. I was not playing with it these days. 17, 18 degrees, felt really cold. Sometimes that affects the way I feel with my elbow and everything. I just wanted to put the sleeve to feel that it’s warmed up, I guess, that it feels more comfortable for me.”
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