(Perth) Novak Djokovic shrugged off a wrist injury to help Serbia reach the quarter-finals of the United Cup on Tuesday.
The world number one was bothered by his right wrist during training on Tuesday morning and received treatment from his therapist.
Djokovic has been given the green light to face Jiri Lehecka. It was good news for Serbia, as Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova beat Olga Danilovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to give Czechia a 1-0 lead.
Djokovic seemed on his way to an easy victory against Lehecka, but his wrist problems caused unforced errors.
The Serb took a medical timeout after losing the second set tiebreaker and had a strong third set to win 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-1.
“I managed to play until the end,” Djokovic said. This is neither the first nor the last time these things happen. You just have to manage them. We have to find a solution and luckily I managed to finish the match. »
There was confusion after the match as to whether Serbia qualified for the quarter-finals. Officials initially said that even if Serbia lost the mixed doubles and the clash against Czechia, they would still become the second best team in Perth. Organizers later clarified, however, that Serbia would be eliminated if it lost the mixed doubles in two sets.
Serbia won the mixed doubles without Djokovic and finished Group E in first place. She will face Australia, winners of Group C, in the quarter-finals in Perth on Wednesday. Poland will face China in the other quarter-final duel in Perth.
On Tuesday in Sydney, Chile defeated Greece 2-1.
Stefanos Tsitsipas – finalist at last year’s Australian Open – was set to face Chilean Nicolas Jarry in singles, but withdrew due to a back injury. He was replaced by Stefanos Sakellaridis, who lost to Jarry 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari then lost to Daniela Seguel and Tomas Barrios Vera in three sets of 6-7 (5), 6-3, 10-6.
Chile leads the group ahead of Canada, which plays its final group match on Wednesday against Greece. Greece must beat Canada to have any hope of qualifying for Thursday’s quarter-finals in Sydney.
Norway advanced to the quarter-finals in Sydney after Croatia’s 2-1 victory over the Netherlands. Norway won Group F on a tiebreaker.
Croatia would have finished top of the group if they had swept their match against the Netherlands.