Novak Djokovic confirms what Taylor Fritz did for him after hearing of his knee injury

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Novak Djokovic credited Taylor Fritz for a conversation they had after injuring his knee.

In May the Serbian’s French Open campaign came to an abrupt end after an MRI scan showed he had torn the meniscus in his right knee.

It seemed as though Wimbledon may have come too soon for the 37-year-old, but his miraculous recovery has put him in contention to lift the title for an eighth time.

During his rehab phase Djokovic sought advice from those who had suffered the same injury including one of his fellow tennis players. 

What did Novak Djokovic say about his conversation with Taylor Fritz?

Djokovic’s injury came during what is such an important period of the season as he chases a record 25th Grand Slam and first Olympic gold medal.

To try and aid his comeback, the 24-time Grand Slam champion spoke to other athletes who had suffered similar injuries, including fellow tennis star Taylor Fritz.

The American suffered the same injury in 2021 and Djokovic expressed his gratitude for the conversation they had.

“He was in the same situation, I have had four or five more days. He is the first person I wrote to and he has been very generous in telling me what it was like for him,” Djokovic said.

“I wrote to him and other athletes, to Ibrahimovic, Lyndsey Vonn, Stan Wawrinka, they have all been very nice sharing contacts that could help me.”

What happened when Taylor Fritz suffered a knee injury?

In 2021, Fritz was competing in the second round of the French Open against Dominik Koepfer when disaster struck.

After feeling discomfort in his knee during the defeat, an MRI scan revealed Fritz had a torn meniscus that would require surgery.

Like Djokovic, despite the short recovery time he was able to play at Wimbledon and to that point achieved his best result at the tournament, reaching the third round.

Commenting on his quick recovery at the time Fritz told ESPN: “The day I got the MRI, a day after I tore my meniscus, was 28 days away from the start of Wimbledon and I was told some people can come back from this in about a month. So I thought, ‘Well, it’s possible.’ 

“The day I got the surgery was exactly three weeks out of when Wimbledon would start so I was thinking more like, ‘OK, now it’s going to be tough, but we’ll see.’ I was just really determined and I kind of had this goal.

“And so I was just really motivated and determined. And I just had that set in my mind that I was going to play Wimbledon and I wasn’t going to let anything else stop me.”