London: Twelve-times grand slam champion Novak Djokovic’s enforced injury break gives him enough time to rediscover his intense playing style and will also make him mentally tougher on his return, former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash has said.
The 30-year-old Serb said he will miss the rest of the tennis season, including next month’s US Open, to recover from a right elbow injury.
“It will take time for him to get his intensity back,” Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon singles champion, told the BBC.
“Djokovic’s style is very similar to almost everyone else on the circuit, but he was just that bit fitter, that bit more flexible, that bit more mentally tough.
“It is probably just what the doctor ordered, to take time off. After so many unbelievable years, 2017 has been poor for him.” Djokovic has struggled over the last 12 months on the court, losing all the grand slam titles he held simultaneously after winning the 2016 French Open. He also lost his world number one ranking to Andy Murray at the end of last year.
Cash believes Djokovic should not be expected to return from his injury layoff as spectacularly as Roger Federer, who came back from a long-term knee issue earlier this year to lift Australian Open and Wimbledon titles.
“It won’t be like Roger Federer, who was winning Grand Slams straight out of the blocks after he came back, but some time next year he will be playing well again,” Cash added.
“He will be very sensible and make sure he is ready when he does come back.”
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova was handed a wild card into the Cincinnati WTA tournament, a key warm-up for the US Open, the season’s final Grand Slam which has yet to guarantee the Russian star a place, adds AFP.
Former world number one and five-time Grand Slam title winner Sharapova is still rebuilding her career following a 15-month doping ban which ended in April.
Injury then ruled her out of contention for Wimbledon where she had been due to play qualifying after French Open organisers had refused her a wild card.
The Cincinnati event, which runs from August 12-20, also granted a wild card to Victoria Azarenka, the two-time major winner who only recently returned to the tour after maternity leave.
“The addition of these players add to our already strong player field,” said tournament director Andre Silva.
“We anticipate the WTA’s No. 1 ranking to be on the line during the tournament and adding players of this calibre will make the battle for the top spot even more compelling.”
Sharapova, 30, was champion in Cincinnati in 2011 with Azarenka taking the title two tears later.
