Australian Open: World No.1 Novak Djokovic defeats Milos Raonic in four sets

Novak Djokovic says if it was any other tournament, he wouldn't be playing due to his mystery injury - but there's on thing keeping him in Melbourne. 

Mystery still surrounds the severity of Australian Open defending champion Novak Djokovic’s abdominal injury, with the world No.1 declining to reveal his exact problem.

The eight-times Melbourne Park king advanced to the last eight again on Sunday night – despite playing under duress – thanks to his continued mastery of Canadian Milos Raonic.

Djokovic told reporters after his 7-6(7-4) 4-6 6-1 6-4 victory over Raonic that inside three hours before the match he was unsure if he would take the court.

He wore strapping across his abdominal area throughout the contest.

There were doubts about his status ever since he required treatment mid-match in his five-set escape against American Taylor Fritz two nights earlier.

Novak Djokovic is through to the Australian Open quarter finals. Picture: AFP Images

Djokovic said after defeating Fritz that he had sustained “definitely a tear of the muscle”, but he was coy on the topic after easing past Raonic.

Asked whether he was dealing with a tear or a strain, Djokovic said: “I did an MRI, I did everything, I know what it is, but I don’t want to talk about it now (while) I’m still in the tournament.”

He said he didn’t hit a ball on Saturday – opting to instead maximise his treatment and recovery time – and would “most likely” skip training on Monday, ahead of his clash with sixth seed Alex Zverev the next day.

“It’s not ideal for me. I definitely have felt better before my third-round match against Fritz than I have starting from the third set with Fritz, when that happened, and all match today,” Djokovic said.

“I didn’t know a few hours before I stepped on the court tonight, whether I was going to play or not.

“I tried to use every single hour possible to recover and … at least to step on the court, which I have done, and if I am part of any other tournament, other than a grand slam, I definitely wouldn’t be playing.

“But it’s a grand slam, it matters a lot to me at this stage of my career, of course, and I want to do everything possible in this very short amount of time to get on the court.”

Djokovic accepted he would have to play out the Australian Open in pain, and his medical and physiotherapy team told him he was taking “kind of a gamble” by continuing to play.

However, he said there was only a “very slight, slim chance” he would suffer significant damage that would sideline him for a major chunk of the season.

Canada's Milos Raonic wasn't able to get past Djokovic. Picture: William West/AFP

Djokovic is already planning a break after the event to recover fully.

“It’s really unpredictable. You can’t know what’s going to happen with you once you’re on the court,” he said.

“You’re not going to save yourself or think about going for that point or this shot. It just pulls you, it’s normal. Playing at this level; you just want to give it all.

“It could cause much more damage than it is at the moment, but it also could go in a good direction, so that’s something I don’t know, and I don’t think I will also know until I stop taking painkillers.

“As long as I’m still (taking) a high dose of painkillers; I can still bear some of the pain.

“But the tricky thing with painkillers is they kind of hide what’s really happening in there, so you might not feel it, but big damage might be done.”

The defending champion has now beaten Raonic 12 times from as many meetings, setting up a quarter-final clash with German Alex Zverev, the No.6 seed.

Zverev beat Djokovic’s fellow Serbian Dusan Lajovic, 6-4 7-6(7-5) 6-3.

Raonic (26 aces) appeared to deliberately test his rival’s movement early, sending him scurrying from side to side – but the tour’s elastic man didn’t flinch.

The first sign of Djokovic’s ailment came 10 games in, when he grimaced after the first point, but it was him who created the only break points.

He didn’t capitalise on opportunities in the seventh and ninth games, only to breeze through the eventual tiebreak and snatch a one-set lead.

Proceedings were more complicated in the second set, even in spite of Raonic rather than Djokovic calling the trainer to have his right foot strapped.

Raonic had an opening in Djokovic’s second service game, before breaking him the next time around with a searing crosscourt forehand.

There were occasions in that period where Djokovic looked limited and sore, but he was able to overcome that to land multiple blows in the third set, then finish the match a set later.

Originally published as Australian Open: World No.1 Novak Djokovic defeats Milos Raonic in four sets