'We'll see in the next 24 to 48 hours': Novak Djokovic shares fitness 'concern' ahead of Wimbledon showdown with Jannik Sinner

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has expressed ‘concern’ about his fitness after slipping during the quarterfinal of Wimbledon. The 38-year-old cemented his spot in the semifinal of the third Grand Slam of the year after beating Italy’s Flavio Cobolli with a score of 6-7, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.

Just before the match point, Djokovic slipped in an awkward position and looked in pain before eventually winning the contest that lasted more than three hours. Talking after the match, Djokovic admitted to having concerns about his fitness but remains optimistic that things will improve in the next 48 hours before the semifinal against world number one Jannik Sinner.

"There is a concern, but we'll see in the next 24 to 48 hours. It was an awkward, nasty fall," said Djokovic while talking to BBC Sport. "It isn’t the first and probably isn’t the last fall that I’ll have on the grass – it’s kind of something I’m used to. But this year I don’t think I’ve fallen so far in the Championship, and this came at an awkward moment, on match point. But I was fortunately able to win the next two points and close out the match. Let’s see. I'm going to address this injury with my team and hope that the severity is not too bad. Time will always help and [Thursday] is one day off, which is going to be good for me, and Friday I'm going to be 100 per cent.”

Talking about his next round opponent, Djokovic stated that he understands that nothing less than 100 per cent will be enough to compete against one of the world’s best players in men’s tennis, Sinner. "I am just trying to focus on my recovery right now and getting my body in shape for a very physical battle," he said. "Hopefully I can deliver the level and be able to stay with him because it's going to take the best of me at the moment to beat Jannik. That's the only thing I'm thinking about right now – just getting myself physically and mentally in the right state so I can fight with him for as long as it's necessary."

Sinner cemented his spot in the next round after beating America’s Ben Shelton in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. It will be the 10th meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous nine meetings, Sinner had a slight edge, winning on five occasions.