By Rory Carroll
INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic said he has recovered from the hamstring injury that forced him out of the Australian Open semi-finals and confirmed he will play the ‘Sunshine Double’ at Indian Wells and Miami for the first time since 2019.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner, who retired from his last four match at Melbourne Park in January due to the injury and lost his opener at the Qatar Open last month, also said he was reaping the rewards of his work with coach Andy Murray.
“The injury is behind me. I mean, hopefully,” he told reporters on Thursday. “I haven’t felt any problems prior to Doha, end of Doha tournament I felt completely fine, as I have felt in the lead-up to Indian Wells, my training weeks.”
The 37-year-old Serb, a five-times Indian Wells winner, can become the third man to claim 100 singles titles in the professional era behind Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) with another triumph in the Southern California desert.
He has won the Indian Wells-Miami Open double a record four times.
“I’ll play the Sunshine Double first time after six years. I haven’t done really well in Indian Wells and Miami ever since 2016 or ’17, and I struggled to find my best game here.
“I’m not going to get younger, I know that. But I definitely look to go deep in the tournament. I’ve done, I think, the right things in preparation.”
Djokovic said he expects Murray to be an asset at both tournaments and to continue through the clay court season including the French Open and, hopefully, Wimbledon.
“I’m enjoying the relationship with Andy,” Djokovic said of his former rival.
“I still feel like we are going through the process of getting to know each other on the court in a different way than we have known each other for 25 years.
“So it’s obviously a new role for him. He’s also exploring it and trying to understand how he can excel in it.”
Djokovic, who won gold at the Paris Olympics, said he had been pleased with his level in Melbourne before retiring after the first set against Alexander Zverev.
“I think I played maybe the best tennis that I played in quite some time. Since the Olympics, actually.
“So I definitely attribute that to the work I had with Andy.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Indian Wells; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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