"Right at the top" - Novak Djokovic ranks his recovery from knee meniscus tear among career achievements amid Wimbledon SF run

Novak Djokovic recently said he was in awe of his comeback from his knee injury. The Serb, who tore his meniscus during his fourth-round match at the 2024 French Open at the beginning of June, has made an inspiring recovery by reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon.

Djokovic endured a slow start to his career's 19th appearance at SW19, dropping a set in the second and third rounds, respectively. The 24-time Major winner then caught fire in his Round-of-16 match against 15th-seeded Holger Rune, routing him 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals.

Novak Djokovic was supposed to face ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur on Tuesday (July 10) for a place in the last four at Wimbledon. However, the Aussie was forced to retire a few hours before their match due to a hip injury.

The 37-year-old was later invited by Tennis Channel, where he was asked to rate his recovery from his knee injury. The Serb said it would rank at No. 2 or No. 3 among all of his career achievements before disclosing the details of his initial decision to undergo surgery.

"Well, right at the top. Maybe 2 or 3 in terms of the time required for me to come back to the desired level," Novak Djokovic said (timestamp — 2:00). "I mean, it was the first time I had faced this kind of particular knee injury. Never had any major knee injury. I tore my meniscus, and a part of it had to be taken out as it's not where it's supposed to be."

"Because I was actually advising myself with all the orthopedic doctors around the world that I know. They all said the same thing, for once unanimous in their opinion, that it has to be operated, and that the recovery time will be much quicker," he added.

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Novak Djokovic: "Taylor Fritz was very kind to share his experience because he had exactly the same situation"

The seven-time Wimbledon champion celebrates after reaching the quarterfinals

During his interaction with Tennis Channel, Novak Djokovic also expressed his gratitude towards Taylor Fritz, who had offered him information about his recovery from a meniscus tear in early June.

"I actually spoke to Taylor Fritz already. Told the story, but he was very kind to share his experience, his journey," Djokovic said (timestamp — 3:27). "Because he had pretty much exactly the same situation. Three years ago, he injured himself in Roland Garros, he had the same arthroscopic surgery. 21 days later, he was playing in the Wimbledon first round."

The second seed added that talking to Fritz about the topic gave him plenty of self-assurance ahead of Wimbledon.

"When I heard him [saying] there's a really good chance if everything goes well, the swelling is down and rehab process is respected, there's a very good chance I will make it to Wimbledon," he added. "And so I think that gave me a lot of confidence to go for it."

Djokovic will face Lorenzo Musetti on Friday (July 12) for a place in the final at the All England Club. The Serb will be eager to reach his first championship match of 2024. He comes into the match with a 5-1 lead in his head-to-head record with the Italian.