A month on from throwing in the towel against Stan Wawrinka at the US Open, Novak Djokovic will return to action.
Djokovic has recovered sufficiently from a shoulder injury that threatened to derail his season to make his bow at the Rakuten Japan Open in Tokyo, with the year-end No. 1 ranking still very much in play.
The world No. 1 sits nearly 2,000 points behind Rafael Nadal in the Race To London – the rankings leaderboard that only includes results in the calendar year – but is certainly capable of closing that gap, if fully fit, in what is traditionally one of his most dominant sections of the season.
As he himself admitted, that fitness was – and still is – far from guaranteed.
‘It’s in a way pleasantly surprising that I’m able to play Tokyo because after first assessment it wasn’t that realistic for me to be here but here I am,’ he told the ATP. ‘I played a doubles match [with Filip Krajinovic against Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares] – unfortunately we lost but the shoulder seems to be fine.
‘I played a week of training and practice sets and matches here in Japan since I arrived. All is well. I’m pleased with how I feel and obviously very excited and motivated to be playing in this tournament for the first time in my career.
‘Obviously I’m on the court but there’s still specific things I have to be very careful about and obviously strengthen muscles around it, work on the posture, stuff like this. It’s not only about healing it but also about preventing it from happening again.’
Djokovic, 32, suggested there were ’emotional’ factors at play that may have contributed to his shoulder problem.
He added: ‘I think it’s important for an athlete going through an injury process not to go through it alone, gather the right team of experts who are knowledgable in sports medicine and the body, of course, but also the people who are going to help you mentally and emotionally to deal with these things and to help you understand how this injury was caused on what level.
‘I feel physical injuries are only manifestations of what’s happening emotionally as well. I try to look at it in a holistic way.
‘It wasn’t the first injury that I had obviously, I’ve been through that experience especially with the elbow – that was probably the biggest injury I’ve ever had. It was helpful approaching this process of rehab with the shoulder, which is still ongoing.’
Djokovic also praised his surroundings and Japanese culture as a whole, claiming he has been made to feel very welcome in Tokyo.
This trip to Japan has been viewed as a dry run for next year’s Olympic Games, with the Serb making no secret of the fact he wants to take home Gold.
His last trip to a Games – in Rio 2016 – ended in tears after a first-round defeat to eventual silver medallist Juan Martin del Potro.
He begins against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday, while he has avoided a potentially tricky tie with Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in round two after his surprise defeat to 35-year-old Japanese wildcard Go Soeda.
