Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic was hit with a major blow in the middle of his campaign for the 25th Grand Slam title.
According to Express, Djokovic has revealed that his friend and physio Miljan Amanovic has undergone emergency surgery and will be hospitalised for a few days.
He said, “Unfortunately, Miljan is in the hospital. He had a serious situation today and underwent surgery. I wouldn't want to go into more detail than that. We're all very concerned. He's currently stable, but the situation isn't ideal. He'll have to stay in the hospital for a few days. We're all worried. I hope everything will be alright."
The world No. 6 broke the news about his physio's health during the press conference after beating home star Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-2, 7-6, in the second round at Roland Garros.
Novak Djokovic gives an injury update
Djokovic, who took a medical timeout for a blister on his foot, appeared late at the press conference after treatment, so he was asked if it takes longer to recover now he is "a bit older than most of the other players."
He laughed and said, “Look, the recovery time is not much longer, I feel like. I mean, I'm pretty fit at the moment. I don't feel like I have any major issues. Although it took me, like, almost an hour to deal with the blister and the bleeding that I had.”
“So they had to use the injections and draw the blood out and then inject something to dry out the blister. So that was, you know, not really a pleasant process. But it is something that, you know, anyone who has blisters that are bleeding has to do it,” he added.
The 38-year-old also apologises for coming late to the conference and assures that recovering would be an issue for him. He asserted that the good thing about slams is that there is a day in between matches that gives players plenty of time to recover and prepare for the next one.
Djokovic will face Austrian tennis player Filip Misolic in the third round of the tournament on Saturday.
