(Reuters) – Novak Djokovic has almost fully recovered from the injury that ended his Australian Open campaign and has set his sights on lifting a 100th singles title at this month’s Qatar Open.
The 24-times Grand Slam champion retired due to a hamstring injury in his semi-final against Alexander Zverev last month.
The world number seven was booed by the crowd at Melbourne Park and responded by posting a photo of an MRI scan taken of his left hamstring with the caption: “Thought I’d leave this here for all the sports injury ‘experts’ out there.”
He also withdrew from Serbia’s Davis Cup first-round qualifying tie, in which they lost to Denmark.
“There is no more rupture in the muscle, the injury is almost 100% healed …,” Djokovic, 37, told Montenegrin daily newspaper Vijesti in an interview published on Monday.
“I have the green light from the medical team to be able to train, to be able to prepare. The tournament in Doha is scheduled for a week now, so I am sticking to the schedule. Thank God, I managed to recover quickly.
“I have had a few more injuries lately than I did in the first 15 years of my career. That probably comes with age, but my body still listens to me, the flame and desire for achievement and new achievements still burns in me.”
At the February 17-22 Qatar Open, Djokovic will be hoping to become only the third man to win 100 singles titles on the tour in the professional era after Jimmy Connors (109) and former rival Roger Federer (103).
The Serbian, whose 99th title came in August with his victory at the Paris Olympics, came closest to winning his 100th at the Shanghai Masters where he was beaten by world number one Jannik Sinner in the final in October.
“I hope that the 100th trophy can come already in Doha, I’ve been chasing it for a long time, since October last year, but about that – it will come when it’s supposed to come,” said the 37-year-old, who won the title in Doha in 2016 and 2017.
“I know it will come, we’ll see when and where.” (This story has been corrected to change ‘next month’ to ‘this month,’ in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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