Novak Djokovic Offers Wise Advice to Qinwen Zheng

Zheng underwent elbow surgery after Wimbledon and rushed back to play the China Open. The 23-year-old had to retire during her second match back due to elbow pain and struck a defensive tone in her post-match press conference.

Zheng pushed back against the idea of a shortened season. She said, "I don't think for professional player the calendar is too much because the strongest players survive, and that's the rules in my head."

As a leader in the sport and the most accomplished player of all time, Djokovic was asked about Zheng, and he offered sage advice for the rising star.

Djokovic prefaced his answer, "Well, injuries are the biggest enemy of the athlete. Any athletes from any sport. So, I definitely, first of all, I wish her a fast recovery. I hope that she'll be able to come back strong to the court and play the tennis that she's played over the last couple of years.

She's won the gold for China and played finals of Grand Slams and playing on a very high level. She's a very nice girl, and we get along well. I think she's got a very good game, great attitude, a good team of people around her. I think it's she's still young, you know?"

Djokovic then proceeded to advise Zheng to take her time in recovering from the injury and plan for the next decade-plus of her career.

"So it's important to really look at the big picture for her, you know, not only think about, 'Okay, I want to come back and play as soon as possible,' but really see how she can create a foundation for her, for her health, for her body, for her mind, for the next 10, 15 years.

Because she has the opportunity to play for a long time, and to be very successful, and hopefully win Grand Slams, so I wish her that. And she knows that she can always reach out to me, and if she needs any advice or if she has questions, I'm happy to share my experience," concluded Djokovic.

Zheng might be taking Djokovic's advice as she has already pulled out of two tournaments in the Asian Swing, which will likely cost her a spot in this year's WTA Finals.