Novak Djokovic's longtime friend and physio Miljan Amanovic rushed to hospital during French Open
Novak Djokovic's
French Open
campaign has been rocked by the sudden hospitalisation of his longtime friend and physio, Miljan Amanovic.
Amanovic has been in the 24-time grand slam champion's inner circle for several years, and sits in his players' box during matches.
The Serbian
tennis
legend provided an update on his friend on Friday (AEST), but wouldn't be drawn into details of the 'serious' health issue.
'Unfortunately, Miljan is in the hospital,' Djokovic said.
'He had a serious situation today and underwent surgery.
'I wouldn't want to go into more detail than that.'
The 38-year-old said everyone in his team is worried.
'We're all very concerned,' Djokovic added.
'He's currently stable, but the situation isn't ideal.
'He'll have to stay in the hospital for a few days.
'We're all worried. I hope everything will be alright.'
With Amanovic front-of-mind, Djokovic found it a bit of a slog to put away the eccentric Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) in more than three hours to stay on course to go past the record of 24 grand slams that he currently shares with Margaret Court.
He had to survive a set point in the third set and also needed some medical treatment on the sore toes on his left foot.
'He had set point,' said Djokovic. 'At that moment anything could happen but I stayed in the set. At the right time, I found a good serve.'
'Obviously, motivation now is to make more history,' added the phenomenon who's looking in ominous form after his 100th title win in Geneva and will face either Canada's Denis Shapovalov or Austrian Filip Misolic in round three.
The 38-year-old admitted it's not as easy to back up from match to match anymore at his age, compounding the absence felt without his physio.
'Look, the recovery time is not much longer, I feel like,' he said.
'I mean, I'm pretty fit at the moment. I don't feel like I have any major issues. Although it took me, like, almost an hour to deal with the blister and the bleeding that I had.
'So they had to use the injections and draw the blood out and then inject something to dry out the blister. So that was, you know, not really a pleasant process. But it is something that, you know, anyone who has blisters that are bleeding has to do it.
'So that's why I'm also late with you guys, and I'm sorry for that. But I don't think it's going to be an issue for me to recover. I mean, three hours was a lot of running, straight sets, but a three-hour match is a good three-hour session.
'Good thing about slams obviously you have a day in between. So plenty of time to recover and get ready for the next one.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
28 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Sinner powers into French Open last 16, Pegula and Andreeva advance
World number one Jannik Sinner powered into the last 16 of the French Open on Saturday, punishing outclassed Czech Jiri Lehecka as American Jessica Pegula and Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva both booked their spots in the second week. Sinner won through 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, with world number 34 Lehecka unable to stop the Italian steamroller on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, slumping to his third defeat in as many meetings after a one-hour 34-minute battering. "Today I was playing really, really well, especially during (the first) two-and-a-half sets... so very happy," said top seed Sinner. "I don't think there's much I could improve." Three-time Grand Slam winner Sinner next meets Russia's Andrey Rublev, the beneficiary of a walkover to the fourth round after France's Arthur Fils withdrew injured on Friday. Sinner has been finding his feet since his comeback from a three-month doping ban at the Italian Open earlier in May, reaching the final before losing to reigning Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz. And the 23-year-old has continued his fine form on the red clay of Roland Garros where he has not dropped a set, extending his winning streak at Grand Slam events to 17 matches after titles at the 2024 US Open and Australian Open this January. German third seed Alexander Zverev, who lost last year's final to Alcaraz, will next face Italian Flavio Cobolli, the world number 26 later in the day. Novak Djokovic faces a Champions League clash as he steps up his pursuit of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam against Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic in the primetime night session on Court Philippe Chatrier. In the women's tournament, American third seed Jessica Pegula battled into the last 16 with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Czech Marketa Vondrousova. Pegula, last year's US Open runner-up, will play the winner of the all-French duel between Lois Boisson, ranked 361, and Elsa Jacquemot, 138th, for a place in the quarter-finals. The 31-year-old, who missed the 2024 tournament due to injuries, is hoping to better her previous best run in Paris which was a quarter-final appearance three years ago. - Andreeva feeling 'better and better' - Earlier, 18-year-old Andreeva eased into the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Kazakh Yulia Putintseva. Sixth seed Andreeva took 78 minutes to dispatch Putinstseva to set up a showdown with Daria Kasatkina, ranked 17. Kasatkina, now playing for Australia after switching allegiance from her native Russia, got past Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa 6-1, 7-5 in their third round match. Andreeva is competing in just her ninth Grand Slam event, but the teenager has now reached the second week in five of them. After a closely-contested first set, Andreeva took control winning nine of the last 10 games of the match. "I felt a little nervous before the match, but overall, throughout I felt like I could do whatever I want on the court," said Andreeva. "Like, you know, I felt free. I felt like even though the match is tight and even though sometimes she plays very tough shots, I felt like as soon as I recover and the point starts again, I felt like I can create what I want. It felt nice, honestly. "I'm happy that with every match I play, I feel better and better. I think that this is a good thing. Women's second seed and former finalist Coco Gauff will step up on Court Philippe Chatrier to play Czech world number 47 Marie Bouzkova later Saturday. Three other American women are in action with Madison Keys and Sofia Kenin clashing for a place in the last 16, and unseeded compatriot Hailey Baptiste takes on Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
7NEWS
2 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Melbourne City defeat rivals Victory lift A-League Men title in front of record crowd
Led by a bloodied Mathew Leckie, Melbourne City have out-scrapped fierce rivals Melbourne Victory to claim a 1-0 triumph in the A-League Men grand final and their second championship. In the first ever Melbourne derby grand final, winger Yonatan Cohen handed City the lead in the 10th minute in front of a sellout, largely pro-Victory crowd at AAMI Park. The crowd of 29,902 was a sporting record crowd at the venue. Coach Aurelio Vidmar's surprise decision to play Leckie in defensive midfield paid off as the Socceroo turned in a commanding performance. Leckie had his nose split open by an accidental boot from Zinedine Machach in the 49th minute but played on with a massive bandage around his face. He was named the Joe Marston medallist for the best player on the ground. City's defence were superb as they condemned Victory to a second consecutive grand final defeat and extended their championship drought to seven years. Victory's star winger Nishan Velupillay (ankle) failed to prove his fitness and City scored after skipper Aziz Behich nutmegged Josh Rawlins with a wonderful backheel to find Andreas Kuen. The Austrian cut back the ball for Max Caputo, whose shot hit the bar before Israeli winger Cohen drove home the rebound. In the 20th minute, Leckie desperately blocked Zinedine Machach's close-range shot. Jack Duncan made a wonderful diving save to deny Leckie in the 23rd minute before Patrick Beach denied Machach up the other end. A minute into the second half, Duncan made a terrific fingertip save to stop Cohen curling his second goal into the top corner. Max Caputo and Cohen both spurned chances to make it 2-0 late, while Victory unsuccessfully appealed for a handball penalty off German Ferreyra in the 80th minute. But Arthur Diles' charges couldn't find an equaliser.
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
City beat Victory in A-League Men derby grand final
Led by a bloodied Mathew Leckie, Melbourne City have out-scrapped fierce rivals Melbourne Victory to claim a 1-0 triumph in the A-League Men grand final and their second championship. In the first ever Melbourne derby grand final, winger Yonatan Cohen handed City the lead in the 10th minute in front of a sellout, largely pro-Victory crowd at AAMI Park. The crowd of 29,902 was a sporting record crowd at the venue. Coach Aurelio Vidmar's surprise decision to play Leckie in defensive midfield paid off as the Socceroo turned in a commanding performance. Leckie had his nose split open by an accidental boot from Zinedine Machach in the 49th minute but played on with a massive bandage around his face. City's defence were superb as they condemned Victory to a second consecutive grand final defeat and extended their championship drought to seven years. Victory's star winger Nishan Velupillay (ankle) failed to prove his fitness and City scored after skipper Aziz Behich nutmegged Josh Rawlins with a wonderful backheel to find Andreas Kuen. The Austrian cut back the ball for Max Caputo, whose shot hit the bar before Israeli winger Cohen drove home the rebound. In the 20th minute, Leckie desperately blocked Zinedine Machach's close-range shot. Jack Duncan made a wonderful diving save to deny Leckie in the 23rd minute before Patrick Beach denied Machach up the other end. A minute into the second half, Duncan made a terrific fingertip save to stop Cohen curling his second goal into the top corner. Max Caputo and Cohen both spurned chances to make it 2-0 late, while Victory unsuccessfully appealed for a handball penalty off German Ferreyra in the 80th minute. But Arthur Diles' charges couldn't find an equaliser.
