The world’s No. 1 tennis player, Novak Djokovic, will return to the circuit at the ATP-500 tournament in Tokyo that begins on Monday, almost a month after leaving the US Open with a left shoulder injury, his entourage reported Tuesday.
The Serbian, whose leadership in the world ranking is threatened by Spaniard Rafael Nadal, “has started training,” one of the player’s spokesmen declared anonymously, adding that “the situation with his shoulder (was) a little better.”
Djokovic, on his side, commented in the local press that he had been training “without pain for two days.” “That allows me to be optimistic about the goal of playing until the end of the season,” he told the daily Blic.
The Serbian was forced to withdraw at the US Open in early September with sore left shoulder during his round of 16 match against Swiss Stan Wawrinka.
But he immediately claimed that “the season was not over” for him, after winning two Grand Slams this year (Australian Open and Wimbledon) and reaching the semi-finals at another (Roland Garros).
Crowned at the US Open, Nadal remains second in the rankings, but his distance from Djokovic has dropped to 640 points.
The Serbian also intends to participate in the Davis Cup, which opens this year and which will be held in Madrid from November 18 to 24. afp