In his pre-tournament press conference, he admitted: “It’s various things that were happening in the last couple of months, but I don’t want to get into it. I hope you understand that. It’s just I don’t want to open Pandora Box and talk about things. Just really try to focus myself on what needs to be done. What has happened, happened, and it’s in the past.”

Now his future is about getting fit. Taylor Fritz left court in a wheelchair at the French Open in 2021 after suffering the same injury, underwent surgery and recovered in time for Wimbledon. He was 23. Djokovic is now 37. His former coach Niki Pilic said: “Those knees have been in professional tennis for 20 years.”

Pilic added: Novak has already done more than everyone else, there is nothing to prove to anyone. Wimbledon and the Olympics are coming up, and he wants gold in Paris. Why would he risk hurting his knee even more?”