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Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic pulls out of his Australian Open warm-up at the last second because of blisters on his hand – suffered during two weeks in hotel quarantine
- Novak Djokovic, 33, has pulled out of his Australian Open warm up in Adelaide
- The world number one was due to face young Italian rising star Janik Sinner, 19
- Djokovic was only released from his two weeks in hotel quarantine on Friday
Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has pulled out of his first Australian Open warm up match after suffering blisters on his hands during two weeks in quarantine.
Djokovic, 33, was due to be the star attraction at the Adelaide Super Slam event on Friday, and had been allowed to quarantine in the city on the condition he would be a competitor in the inaugural event.
But just 15 minutes before he was due on court, he decided to withdraw.
The world number one had only emerged from his highly-controversial two weeks in quarantine hours earlier, before appearing at a media opportunity alongside female stars Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka.
Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has pulled out of his first Australian Open warm up match after suffering blisters on his hands during two weeks in quarantine
During the photoshoot he handballed an Aussie Rules football and told reporters he was happy to be out of quarantine, with his first move after being released to go for a walk in the park opposite his hotel.
‘A walk in the park, just putting bare feet on the ground,’ he said.
‘Just doing something that I didn’t have a chance to do. So just having space, that is what we all kind of missed.’
Djokovic was due to kick off his Australian Open campaign with a clash against rising Italian star Janik Sinner, but instead his training partner Filip Krajinovic took his spot.
His coach Goran Ivanisevic – himself a former Wimbledon winner – told Channel Nine the tennis superstar’s hand had been giving him a ‘lot of trouble’, despite him having not been on a tennis court for 14 days.
He insisted that the Serbian star was in no doubt to appear at the ATP Cup next week to help his country defend its title.
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