Novak Djokovic was forced to pull out of the World Tennis League clash against Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday (Day 3) as he was ‘not feeling 100 percent well enough to play’. The clash was much-anticipated by Tennis fans as the duo had taken on each other in the Wimbledon final, with Djokovic winning in four sets. However, Djokovic lost his Tuesday match against Alexander Zverev in straight sets.
Djokovic was replaced by his Falcons teammate, Grigor Dimitrov for the match against the Australian.
“Novak Djokovic announced that he would not be partaking in the World Tennis League event tonight due to not feeling 100 per cent well enough to play,” read a statement released by the WTL.
“Team Falcons will continue to play against Team Eagles and we look forward to Novak’s return to centre court.”
Dimitrov didn’t let Djokovic down as he defeated Nick Kyrgios by 7-6, 6-3 and led his team to 38-31 success over the Eagles.
“I was pretty excited to play Novak obviously, since Wimbledon final and all that, wanted to go out there and have some fun with him,” said Eagles star Kyrgios.
“But he’s got to look after his body and obviously he’s a got a big couple of months coming up with a lot of expectations, so I wasn’t surprised if he wasn’t feeling 100 per cent to get out there.
“But Grigor is a good mate of mine, it was good to get out there and get some load under the body again. Every day just feeling a little bit better physically. Just getting those two tough singles matches under my belt, feeling well, getting through those without anything kind of pulling up, so that’s a bonus.”
On the other hand, Bopanna and Andreescu lost 2-6, 7-6, 10-7 to Aryna Sabalenka and Dimitrov but won more games, which matters in the WTL format. The duo was able to give a 13-10 advantage to the Eagles despite their loss.
“It’s definitely bringing a different vibe to the sport, which I like. It’s my first time playing an exhibition match like this, and it’s nice to have the mixture of the men and the women,” former US Open champion Andreescu told The National.
“Playing doubles with Nick and with Rohan is amazing. He’s a Grand Slam champion, and Nick as well, so it’s nice because I can get some ideas off of them. And who knows, maybe I can play with them in mixed doubles in the future.”
