LDN - Sports

PRESS BOX: Djokovic (elbow) to miss rest of 2017 season

[July 27, 2017] The Sports Xchange

Novak Djokovic announced Wednesday he will miss the rest of the 2017 season to recover from a right elbow injury.

The Serbian, a 12-time Grand Slam champion and ranked No. 4 in the world, admitted after he was forced to retire during his Wimbledon quarterfinal loss two weeks ago that he had been feeling pain in his elbow for the past 18 months.

Djokovic, 30, posted a video statement on Facebook and his website shortly before a news conference at which he explained his decision in more detail.

"I've made a decision to not play any competitions or tournaments for the rest of the 2017 season," Djokovic said in the Facebook Live broadcast. "It's a decision that had to be made.

"My elbow is hurt due to excessive playing, and it troubles me constantly when serving, and now when hitting my forehand as well. Unfortunately, such injuries are often encountered in a professional sport, and I am very proud of the fact that I have been free from serious injuries during all these years.

"All the doctors I've consulted, and all the specialists I have visited, in Serbia and all over the world, have agreed that this injury requires rest. A prolonged break from the sport is inevitable. I'll do whatever it takes to recover. I will use the upcoming period to strengthen my body and also to improve certain tennis elements that I have not been able to work on over the past years, due to a demanding schedule. Five months may seem long from this point, but I'm sure they will pass quickly because there is so much I want to do.

"Another important moment is coming, we will become parents for a second time. My wife, Jelena, and I are expecting our second child, and we are preparing to welcome a new family member. These are things that fill me with greatest happiness and delight. I'm confident I will be ready for start of the new season."

--Top-seeded Belgian David Goffin rebounded from dropping the first set and fended off four match points to upend Moldova's Radu Albot, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (7) in their second-round match at the Safra Sarasin Swiss Open in Gstaad, Switzerland.

Goffin, who advanced to the tournament final in 2015, trailed 3-6 in the third-set tiebreak before reeling off three consecutive points. Albot answered to regain the advantage, but Goffin rolled off three straight points to end the match.

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Goffin saved 14 of 17 break points to dispatch Albot and advance to face Robin Haase, who lost in the tournament final in both 2013 and 2016. The sixth-seeded Dutchman put his best foot forward on Wednesday by outlasting Brazil's Thiago Monteiro en route to posting a 7-5, 7-5 victory.

Second-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut dropped just nine service points to record a 6-4, 6-3 win over French qualifier Gleb Sakharov. Bautista Agut won his match in 84 minutes to set up a match against Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, who benefited from 11 aces in a convincing 6-3, 6-1 triumph over German Dustin Brown.

--Fernando Verdasco was saddled with his third straight first-round loss in Hamburg, Germany, as the seventh-seeded Spaniard fell victim to Czech Jiri Vesely at the German Tennis Championships.

Vesely recorded a 7-6 (7), 6-7 (0), 6-3 win over Verdasco in a match that lasted two hours, 45 minutes. The encounter continued at the start of the third set after rain halted play Tuesday.

Verdasco's run of luck hasn't been good at Hamburg since advancing to the semifinals of the tournament in 2011.

Vesely advances to face Argentine Horacio Zeballos, who outlasted German Daniel Altmaier, 7-6 (2), 6-4, in Monday's opening-round match.

--Third-seeded Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia played nearly flawless tennis en route to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Italian Sara Errani in their second-round match at the Ericsson Open in Bastad, Sweden.

The 54-minute match was a decidedly different affair than Tuesday's encounter against Irina-Camelia Begu. Garcia needed to overcome dropping the first set to dispatch Begu 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in a tense first-round match.

"It was definitely a good match, very different from yesterday -- her game suits me a little bit better than the game of Begu," Garcia said. "But it's always been a battle in the past against Sara, so I'm very happy with the way I played today.

"I had good timing and everything was going well. I'm happy it was fast."

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