Novak Djokovic told his mum he felt like he’d “betrayed” himself the first time he underwent surgery. The World No. 1 was forced to pull out of the French Open this week after picking up an injury in his fourth-round win over Francisco Cerundolo.
The Serbian, 37, has maintained an incredible level of fitness over the course of his long career, with his only notable absence from the tour coming in the second half of 2017 when a recurring elbow problem forced him to sit out the US Open.
Having put up with his problematic elbow for two years, Djokovic decided to get surgery for the first time in early 2018, which presented him with something of a moral quandary.
As demonstrated by his refusal to take the Covid-19 vaccine, Djokovic is a staunch believer in body autonomy. As such, he prefers to let his body heal naturally, rather than use drugs and surgery.
But he was left with little choice after being dumped out of the 2018 Australian Open via a pain-riddled fourth-round straight-sets defeat to unseeded South Korean novice Chung Hyeon.
Djokovic’s mother, Dijana, went with him to get the surgery and explained what her son said to her when he woke up from the anaesthesia. “He told me that he had betrayed himself,” she told Sportal Blic.
“I explained to him that he did what he had to do and that if he wanted to continue playing, it was necessary. He tried alternative methods, everything available to him, but nothing worked.
Novak is simply against [surgery]. He doesn’t like drugs, he doesn’t like to take anything into his body. He is curious, he reads everything he can get his hands on, he educates himself.
Thankfully for the 24-time Grand Slam champion, the surgery worked wonders and he ended up winning four of the next six majors and has won eight more since.
No doubt he’ll be hoping for a similar reaction to his latest setback, though with his 40s fast approaching, doing so will be easier said than done.
