He is 39, he won the China Open this month, and he still will not name what is wrong with him. What he has described is the symptom list.
“It’s something that I’ve been carrying, unfortunately, pretty much every match this year: vomiting, throwing up, a serious issue there. Then my whole body starts to collapse, basically cramping and pain.”
“Yeah, the back just gave up in the end, and shoulder, and I couldn’t close it out.”
Djokovic spoke to reporters in New York on 30 August, after a four-hour, 36-minute first-round defeat to Argentina’s Mariano Navone at the US Open. According to Yahoo Sports, it was his earliest Grand Slam exit since January 2006.
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The symptoms did not stop in Beijing. He vomited mid-match in a second-round win over Bu Yunchaokete on 3 October and told the China Open media room only that it was “something else. More related to health,” without specifying what.
He went on to win the title anyway. Alex de Minaur retired in the second set of the final on 6 October, and Djokovic walked off with his seventh China Open crown and the 102nd ATP title of his career.
“Close, but not 100%”
Speaking to Serbian outlet Sportal before his first Swiss Indoors appearance since 2011, in comments relayed by Puntodebreak, Djokovic struck his most upbeat note of the season on the health question.
“I’ve made quite a bit of progress physically and we’re heading in the right direction.”
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He described himself as competitive enough for Basel but not yet where he wants to be. He is still refusing to put a name on the problem, insisting it is not a stamina issue, and saying he and his team are still trying to pin down the cause.
Melbourne is in the diary
The 2027 Australian Open, which runs from 11 January to 31 January at Melbourne Park, is now locked into his schedule.
“I know 100% that I will be in Australia, and I’ll see whether I play a tournament before Australia or not,” he told Sportal.
Before that comes the Six Kings Slam, the Netflix-streamed Riyadh Season exhibition that was rescheduled for 27-30 December after the original October edition was called off over regional security concerns. Djokovic has confirmed he will play, alongside Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur.
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He also said he wants to reach the ATP Finals in Turin. For that he still needs results in Basel, where he accepted a wild card and opens against France’s Ugo Humbert this week.
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