THREE paths before Novak Djokovic. It will be very hard whatever he chooses! (VIDEO)
The best Serbian tennis player is in the most delicate situation in his career
Novak Djokovic will have to think well in the next few days, perhaps weeks, because the decision he has to make could be fateful.
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After dropping out of the Australian Open after the eight-finals, and a renewed pain in the right elbow, Djokovic understood that something has to be done to return to the right form.
New pains he feels just annulled all the rest he has had from July 2017 and brought new headaches.
Djokovic will have three paths before him:
1. Elbow surgery
2. New break to calm the injury
3. Retirement from tennis for health
THE SURGERY BRINGS THE SOLUTION, BUT ALSO THE RISKS
The elbow surgery is perhaps the best solution for the injured elbow because it would fix the problem FOREVER, but it carries a list of risks. Namely, there are no guarantees that everything will be done properly and that the elbow tendon functions will return to normal. That is why Djokovic has been delaying that possibility for a long time.
Of course, he knows a man who went through the same thing, and it is his good friend Gustavo Kuerten, also known as Guga.
He was dominating a few years ago, he was world's number one (2000), he won three Roland Garros in five years (1997, 2000, 2001) but he had to have a surgery on his hip. He never returned to the tennis top again and he was 25. He became an average player.
There are other examples where tennis players lost their level after certain procedures, but this one is the most impressive example, especially for being Novak's great friend.
NEW BREAK COULD BE THE WASTE OF TIME
The second possibility is going for a break for few months, but he wouldn't get anything with it.
He would lose the continuity of training, and the question remains if the elbow could handle new stronger training and matches.
No one can guarantee that it won't be lost time, just like from July to December 2017. The doctors gave him permission to participate in Melbourne, but he will obviously have to change the doctors.
RETIREMENT FROM TENNIS IS ALWAYS PAINFUL IF YOU KNOW YOU CAN DO MORE
It is the least certain that Nole will retire, because he still has desire and fire within him to compete on the field, and he is in his prime, he is just 30 years old.
However, the question remains, what will his body be like if he finishes his career in, let's say, 7 years.
Supreme sport takes a toll on the body, and Novak had a long period playing in pain under medications.
Also, he has some examples which could show him, like Boris Becker, his former coach who has problems with wrists, and who is barely walking after the surgeries. Let alone Nadal who is semi-handicapped because of his knee, and he is still playing. There are other examples of other sports where top aces had health problems after their careers.
Be as it may, whatever path Novak chooses, it will be very difficult, both physically and mentally, but in the ultimate case, he has to think about the rest of his life without tennis...
This is how Djokovic emotionally spoke about the future of his career and if he is going to go for a surgery.