Enzo Couacaud couldn’t hide back his emotions after appearing to roll his ankle in the early stage of his match against Novak Djokovic. The Frenchman was playing on the biggest stage of his career having made the Australian Open main draw for the first time ever.
He had pushed both Pablo Carreno Busta and John Isner close at the 2021 French Open and 2022 Wimbledon Championships respectively, before losing against the pair of them. But his second-round match against Djokovic was the first time he was playing against a Grand Slam champion on the biggest stage at the Australian Open.
Speaking before the match, Couacaud admitted he was hoping to seize the opportunity against the former world No 1. He was up against it with Djokovic looking in top form during his opening-round win over Roberto Carballes Baena.
And the Serbian got off to a fast start against Couacaud, creating a break-point opportunity at the first chance. Couacaud managed to hold that time, but he was under even more pressure on his next service game.
Battling to save a third break point of the match, Couacaud came to the net and parried away nearly everything Djokovic was throwing at him. But it proved one shot too many and Couacaud appeared to suffer an injury in the process of trying to defend.
Djokovic fired a forehand winner down the line with the Frenchman rolling his right ankle while stretching to try and reach the ball. The 27-year-old immediately winced in pain and limped over to his chair before appearing to start crying into his hands.
The physio was immediately called to the court with Couacaud soon taking his shoe off. Tim Henman noted on commentary that by taking his shoe off, Couacaud risked his ankle swelling up even more.
There was initially some confusion as the doctor was first on the court, despite the world No 190 asking for the physio. The physio soon entered the court while the doctor appeared to give Couacaud some medication.
After several minutes of treatment, Couacaud appeared fit and ready to return to the court. He still looked in some discomfort throughout the first set though and Djokovic showed no mercy as he soon took the lead.
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