Djokovic says he did tear muscle in Australia

He said he was not sure he could keep competing until about two hours before his next match and at that point did not think winning the championship was realistic.

Novak Djokovic says he did tear an abdominal muscle in his third-round match at the Australian Open.

Tennis - Australian Open - Men's Singles Final - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 21, 2021 Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates with the trophy after winning his final match against Russia's Daniil Medvedev REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY (REUTERS)

That’s what he announced right after that win, but then he refused to go into details until the tournament was over.

Now that he has won his ninth title at Melbourne Park, Djokovic clarified he was merely guessing about the severity of the injury at the time.

He said he was not sure he could keep competing until about two hours before his next match and at that point did not think winning the championship was realistic.

Djokovic said that people will be able to see some of what he did to recover and be able to continue to play in Melbourne in a documentary that he has been filming and plans to release at the end of 2021.

Djokovic has beaten Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 to win his ninth Australian Open championship and 18th Grand Slam title.

The No. 1-seeded Djokovic has won the trophy three years in a row at Melbourne Park.

He has won six of the last 10 major tournaments overall and his total of 18 Slams moves him within two of the men’s record of 20 shared by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

The No. 4-seeded Medvedev was trying to collect his first Grand Slam title Sunday.

But Djokovic used superb serving and his usual baseline excellence to end the Russian’s 20-match winning streak.

Medvedev also had won his past 12 matches against Top 10 opponents.