NOVAK DJOKOVIC is considering a break from tennis after being forced to retire against Tomas Berdych.
The No2 seed had to give up because of elbow trouble with the score 7-6 2-0 against the Czech.
Djokovic, 30, revealed afterwards he has been struggling with the problem for the last EIGHTEEN months – and is now thinking about taking some time out to recover.
The Serb said: “It’s the elbow that already keeps bothering for over a year and a half actually.
“It’s unfortunate that I had to finish Wimbledon this way. I mean, if someone feels bad about it, it’s me.
“But I tried. I tried what I could do from yesterday, you know, to get it in the condition where I’m able to play.
“I was able maybe for 30 minutes to play with some pain that was bearable, let’s call it that way. All the treatments and medications couldn’t really help.
“The serve and forehand were the shots where I could feel it the most. Just after that there was really no sense.
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“I guess the break is something that I will have to consider right now.
Djokovic had treatment on the problem from an on-court doctor after losing the first set on a tie-break to Berdych.
That followed his delayed match against Adrian Mannarino – controversially pushed back from Monday to Tuesday due to the rain – where he had a painkiller in the first set and then twice had physio treatment during the tie.
But having clearly been in discomfort when throwing away a 40-0 lead to be broken for 2-0, the Serb called it a day in the third game of the second set.
After hitting the ball into the net, he shook his head and informed the umpire of his decision to quit – sparking a few boos from a disappointed No1 Court crowd.
Djokovic claimed he has sought advice on what do with the issue over the last year and a half – but continued to play due to conflicting advice.
When asked whether he considered taking a break before during that period, the 12-time Grand Slam champ replied: “Well, I was. To be honest, I was.
“I mean, the specialists that I’ve talked with, they haven’t been really too clear, mentioning also surgery, mentioning different options. Nobody was very clear in what needs to be done.
“As long as it kind of comes and goes, it’s fine. But obviously, adding up, maybe it worked for seven, eight, ten months, but now the next seven months is not working that great.
“Obviously it’s adding up more and more. The more I play, the worse it gets.
“I haven’t felt this much pain ever since I’ve had this injury. So it’s not a good sign.”
Djokovic said he had been suffering particularly with the elbow problem from the start of the tournament.
And he claimed that not being allowed to play on Manic Monday – when it was decided his match against Mannarino could not be switched to Centre Court despite it being unused from 7pm – did not improve the situation.
The former world No1 said: “It was only increasing as the days went by. Actually, I started feeling it already more or less at the beginning of the tournament.
“I kept doing everything with my physiotherapist, and physiotherapist of ATP, what we possibly could to try to recover it and get it into the state where I'm actually able to perform.
“I was able to perform up to this stage. But as I've said, it was only getting worse.
“Unfortunately today was the worst day. Probably the fact that I played yesterday, kind of days adding up, you know, as I've said before, it wasn't helping at all.
“At the end of the day, this is something I have to deal with and accept it.”
Djokovic now plans to speak with his advisors to work out a course of action.
He added: “I'm just going to talk with specialists, as I have done in the last year or so, try to figure out what's the best way to treat it and to solve it, to find a long-term solution.
“Obviously short-term it's probably rest is most appropriate.”
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