Djokovic at mercy of illness
Djokovic at mercy of illness 
From correspondents in Monte Carlo
Former Australian Captain April 27, 2008
AUSTRALIAN Open champion Novak Djokovic is tennis’s brightest future star but his sick-list of injury and illness is becoming depressingly familiar.
The 20-year-old world No. 3 quit his Monte Carlo Masters semi-final against top seed Roger Federer because of illness while trailing 6-3, 3-2 and left to a chorus of jeers from a crowd which felt short-changed.
However, the charismatic Serbian insists that his health, and not the demands of spectators, must take priority as he gears up to a French Open challenge next month.
“I decided not to risk anything,'’ Djokovic said. “I was thinking about stopping after the first set but I wanted to try and see how it goes.
“But it’s not worth it. I’m just 20 years old. There’s still a lot of time to come and a lot of tournaments.
“I need to think about the French Open. I’ll have a week off before the Rome Masters so hopefully I’ll be ready.'’
Djokovic is no stranger to shaking hands early.
In February this year, he was two sets ahead of Nikolay Davydenko, with Serbia looking on course to level their Davis Cup clash with Russia, when he retired complaining of dizziness and nausea.
He needed precautionary hospital treatment in Moscow.
At Wimbledon last year, he was one-set all with Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals when he pulled out with a bad back and a blistered toe having spent over 13 hours on court negotiating the previous three rounds.
He was also forced to retire from the tour final in Umag, Croatia, in 2006 against Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka due to exhaustion and respiratory problems.
At the French Open that year, his semi-final with Nadal also ended early because of back pain.
Djokovic summoned the doctor to courtside on Saturday after he had lost the first set.
“I had been waking up with a sore throat and with a little bit of dizziness in the last three days. I thought it wasn’t going to be a problem,'’ he said.
“But when you are playing the number one player in the world you are going to have to get a lot of balls back and play longer points.
“I just couldn’t get enough energy back after each point.'’
Despite his health problems, Djokovic believes he can still be a threat to the world’s top two players, Federer and Nadal, over the remainder of the claycourt season.
“Reaching the semi-final is a great result. I’m not that disappointed. It’s a good result to come in the top four of a strong tournament.'’
Agence France-Presse