Djokovic to undergo medical checkup after shock Italian Open defeat

Novak Djokovic is set to undergo a medical checkup after suffering a shock 6-2, 6-3 defeat to Alejandro Tabilo in the ongoing Italian Open 2024 on Sunday.

Djokovic was hit by a water bottle on his head on Friday while he was signing autographs for the fans. The Serb collapsed to the floor immediately. There were concerns that he might withdraw from the tournament but the organisers confirmed that there was nothing to concern.

However, after his defeat against Tabilo, the Serb opened up on the incident where he looked worried. The 36-year-old added that he doesn’t know whether the incident affected him or not but he was not feeling the same.

 "I don't know, to be honest [if the bottle incident affected him]. I have to check that. The training was different. I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn't feel anything, but I also didn't feel the same,” Djokovic said after the match.

"Today under high stress, it was quite bad - not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago.

“Could be. I don't know. I have to do medical checkups and see what's going on. I didn't do any scans or any tests. Right now, I feel like I should do it, so... I will do it and let's see. Let's see what's happening."

On the other hand, Tabilo was asked how he is feeling after beating Djokovic to which he said that he is just trying to wake up.

“It’s incredible,” said Tabilo. “I came on court just looking around, just trying to soak it all in and trying to process everything. I’m just trying to wake up right now.”

“I was just trying to keep my nerves in, trying to keep swinging," he said after beating Djokovic. "Obviously every time you feel like you are closer to the end, your arms start to get a little tighter and you start to swing shorter, so I was just trying to not think about it and take it point by point. It’s crazy, I can’t believe what just happened.”