Novak Djokovic visits Emergency Centre as head injury continues to cause problems | Tennis | Sport
Djokovic is trying to get to the bottom of a freak head injury he picked up at the Italian Open after being struck on the head with a water bottle. The incident happened after he beat Corentin Moutet in his opening match on Friday.
He then suffered an uncharacteristic defeat to Alejandro Tabilo on Sunday, looking flat as he lost 6-2 6-3 in just 67 minutes. The 24-time Major winner later said he would be having medical tests to check what was wrong with his head.
According to Informer, Djokovic has now visited the hospital in Belgrade after being “secretly admitted” to have examinations on his head. The results are not yet known.
The Serb was reportedly in a good moon and happy to take selfies with those who asked, though he complained of a headache. It comes after Djokovic was asked whether the bottle incident may have contributed to his poor performance against world No. 32 Tabilo.
“I don’t know, to be honest. I have to check that. Training was different. I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn’t feel anything, but I also didn’t feel the same,” he replied.
“Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. Could be. I don’t know. I have to do medical checkups and see what’s going on.”
After Djokovic was struck by the water bottle on Friday, the Italian Open said: “Novak Djokovic on leaving the Central court at the end of his match was accidentally hit on the head by a water bottle while signing autographs to spectators.
“He underwent appropriate medication and has already left the Foro Italico to return to his hotel; his condition is not a cause for concern.” Djokovic was also able to poke fun at the accident as he arrived on site wearing a bicycle helmet the following day.
But the head injury could be more serious than he and the tournament initially assumed. With the French Open just 11 days away, Djokovic will be hoping that it won’t impact his title defence.
