Fitness questions raised over leading stars ahead of Australian Open
The first grand slam of the year gets under way next week in Melbourne
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Your support makes all the difference.Novak Djokovic, Garbine Muguruza and Stan Wawrinka all face fitness questions ahead of next week’s Australian Open having struggled with injury concerns in recent months.
Both Djokovic and Wawrinka have not played a competitive match since Wimbledon of last year and have spent the last six months in recovery.
The former world No 1 made an impressive return to action in an exhibition clash with Dominic Thiem on Wednesday but admitted his elbow is still not 100 per cent.
Doubt was cast over whether Djokovic would be fit to play in the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, when he withdrew from warm-up events in Abu Dhabi and Doha after feeling pain in the elbow.
But, after beating Thiem 6-1 6-4 at the Kooyong Classic, Djokovic declared himself happy.
He told reporters at Kooyong: "I don't want to be overconfident. Obviously I'm very happy with the way it went today. But I don't want to say it's 100 per cent.”
Wawrinka’s own attempts to prove his fitness have not proved so fruitful. The Swiss, who underwent knee surgery in the wake of his Wimbledon exit, pulled out of an exhibition event on Wednesday evening to put his Melbourne campaign in doubt.
Muguruza's preparations for the first grand slam of the year have been similarly thrown into disarray after she was forced to withdraw from the Sydney International with a leg injury.
Hours after battling past Kiki Bertens 6-3 7-6(6) to advance to the quarter-finals, the 24-year-old Spanish top seed announced she would no longer be competing in the tournament.
"I am disappointed but I have talked to the WTA doctors and my team after the match and following their recommendation, I have to withdraw from the tournament," Muguruza said in a statement.
"I have felt pain in my right adductor since I started practising here. Yesterday, I felt better and wanted to play. However, during the match today the pain has been there all the time but I wanted to compete."
The Wimbledon champion accepted a wildcard into the tournament after retiring with leg cramps during her opening match at the Brisbane International last week and called for a medical timeout after just three games against Bertens.
With Andy Murray sidelined for the immediate future as he recovers from hip surgery, British hopes in the singles primarily lie with Johanna Konta – provided her own hip issue proves to be minor.
Konta, who withdrew from the Brisbane International last week due to pain in her right hip, has made the semi-finals and quarter-finals the last two years in Melbourne, which was the scene of her great breakthrough in 2016.
Kei Nishikori is another high-profile absentee from the Australian Open. The world No 20 tore a tendon in his right wrist last August and confirmed this month that he was not ready for the demands of grand slam tennis.
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