Novak Djokovic to play through injury
MONEY talks and in the home of the seriously wealthy, Novak Djokovic listens.
Today he will risk his sprained ankle against Mikhail Youzhny as he begins his campaign to win the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters.
He injured the ankle playing Davis Cup for Serbia against the United States 10 days ago and had this week’s tournament been anywhere else but Monaco, his adopted home now that he is a multi-millionaire in need of a tax haven, he would not have dreamt of playing.
But as the Rolex Masters is now his local event, he waited until the last minute yesterday and then agreed to play through the pain.
I’ve been putting a lot of tape and doing everything I can in order to be able to play, to be on the court
“If I wasn’t here in Monaco it would be very likely that I wouldn’t play,” he said.
“The news that I got after Davis Cup and came back to Europe was positive: there’s no bigger damage.
“I’ve been putting a lot of tape and doing everything I can in order to be able to play, to be on the court and I know that there are a lot of people who expect me to be there, who want me to be there – I want myself to be there more than anybody because I consider this place very special to me.”