Novak Djokovic sets record straight on injury after worrying scenes at Monte-Carlo Masters

Novak Djokovic sparked concerns before losing his first match at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Novak Djokovic addressed injury concerns after losing in Monte-Carlo (Image: Getty)

Novak Djokovic has responded to injury concerns after losing his opening match in Monte-Carlo. The third seed suffered a shock straight-set to Alejandro Tabilo on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, cameras caught him grabbing his right forearm in pain on the practice courts.

The 37-year-old has also been struggling with an eye infection, which affected him during the recent Miami Open final, and saw the doctor before starting his campaign in Monaco. But he set the record straight over his latest injury concern after walking off the court.

“It’s all good. It’s all good. Just a minor, minor thing,” he said of the issue with his forearm in practice.

Also addressing the state of his eye, Djokovic added: “There’s no injury.”

During a practice session on Wednesday, commentators noticed that the two-time former champion in Monte-Carlo needed his physio’s help when he started having problems with his arm.

“Here is Novak Djokovic who is being looked after by his physio,” Nick Lester said.

“Of course, he’s had some problems with his eye over the last few weeks, particularly in that final in Miami. Hopefully he’ll be okay, just getting the body looked after. It’s a cool day, that doesn’t help the body either.”

Novak Djokovic grabbed his arm and needed attention during a practice session (Image: Tennis TV)

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Ahead of the tournament, Djokovic had opened up on his eye issues and recent bout of infection, and revealed that his participation this week had been in doubt.

“It was [in doubt]. Particularly because of the infection of the eye and and a little bit of a viral infection I’ve been dealing with last week, but it seems to be okay these days. I mean, not ideal,” he explained.

“Unfortunately, it started in semi-finals day in Miami and so I did struggle with it in the finals. But it’s calming down, I guess. I mean, I’m visiting the doctor later today, so let’s see, should be okay for the for the first round here.”

There still appeared to be small signs of swelling underneath Djokovic’s eye during the match on Wednesday. But the world No. 5 was more bothered by his performance.

With 10 days between his final in Miami and first match here, Djokovic’s expectations weren’t too high. But he was still bitterly disappointed.

“I expected myself at least to have put a decent performance. Not like this. It was horrible. I did not have high expectations, really,” he added.

“I knew I’m gonna have a tough opponent and I knew I’m gonna probably play pretty bad. But this bad, I didn’t expect.”

Djokovic is expected to return to action at the Madrid Open later this month, where he plans to reunite with coach Andy Murray. It will be his first appearance there since 2022, when he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final.