Having exchanged a few shots with a young prospect after an intense training session in searing heat at his own tennis complex in central Belgrade, the 30-year old Serb conceded that the last 18 months have been testing.
The 21-year-old German, one of the brightest stars in men's tennis, is yet to progress beyond the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who beat Switzerland's Roger Federer to win his 16th Grand Slam title on Sunday:
Ramkumar Ramanathan, who will be playing singles alongside Prajnesh Gunneswaran, will form the second men's doubles pairing with Sumit Nagal, who arrived only late on Friday night.
Poland's world number four Agnieszka Radwanska breezed past Spaniard Larra Arruabarrena 6-0, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the Korea Open on Saturday to set up a title clash with Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
India's shuttlers continued their good run at the Canada Open. Six singles players, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, qualified for the quarter-finals in the US $55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Calgary.
Russia's men's quadruple sculls crew have been banned from the Rio Olympics after one of their members failed a doping test in May, the world governing body FISA said on Friday.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was the only bright spot in what turned out to be a dismal day for the Indian badminton team as it crashed out of the prestigious Sudirman Cup after a 1-4 loss to three-time champions Korea in a Group 1D tie, in Dongguan China, on Wednesday.
'The rate of transmission of COVID-19 in Hong Kong was 0.7 -- anything below 1 suggests the epidemic is receding.' 'The city-State achieved this without the de facto police-State curfew that India has resorted to,' says Rahul Jacob.
Veteran Indian star Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek sailed into the Australian Open quarter-finals after a straight-set win over the unseeded pair of Yuki Bhambri and Michael Venus in the men's doubles competition in Melbourne on Sunday.
Croatian Marin Cilic prepares to try to stop the Swiss claiming a sixth Australian Open title on Sunday.
At one stage Yuki was a break up, serving for the opening set but lost his serve and eventually the set. After drawing parity, Yuki twice lost his serve to fall behind 0-3 in the decisive set and never recovered.
'Everyone has to recalibrate their plans, preparations, peaking, meaning the tournaments they will play in in the lead-up to the Olympics.'
We pick 11 best dressed women from across the globe.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Images from Day 3 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Hong Kong will host the 2022 Gay Games, fighting off bids from cities in the United States and Mexico to become the first Asian city to stage the sports and cultural event.
Lifestyle brand Victoria's Secret's annual list of What Is Sexy features actors, singers and an athlete.
Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu and Ajay Jayaram advanced to the quarter-finals after registering thrilling three-game wins over their respective opponents in the second round of the China Super Series Premier, in Fuzhou, on Thursday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Djokovic, the ninth seed, was originally scheduled to play Australian Open semi-finalist Chung Hyeon but the 22-year-old South Korean withdrew with a back injury about an hour before the match was due to start.
Hyundai has started to build one of two new factories planned for China.
German aid likely for Bengaluru-Chennai bullet train
Brazil star Neymar scored a stunning free-kick as he led the World Cup hosts to a 2-0 friendly win over South Korea in Seoul on Saturday.
Novak Djokovic claimed a fourth Wimbledon title in ruthless fashion as he beat giant South African Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3) in the final.
Ash Barty beat eighth seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) in Beijing to seal her spot in the final of the China Open on Saturday.
On the last day of the competition, Yash Vardhan and Shreya Agrawal bagged three gold medals each.
Far from being a fading force, 12-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has shown signs that he is emerging from the toughest spell of his career and is ready for a fresh start ahead of next week's French Open.
India won the opening singles to take a 2-0 lead over South Korea on Day 1 of the Asia/Oceania Group-I tie against South Korea, in Chandigarh, on Friday. After young Ramkumar Ramanathan made a winning Davis Cup debut, scoring a hard-fought 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-5 (15-15) victory over Seong Chan Hong in the first singles, Saketh Myneni got the better of Yong-Kyu Lim 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 5-2.
Last week, Domenico Scala, head of FIFA's audit and compliance committee and the man responsible for overseeing the election, said it could take place any time between December and March.
India, South Korea sign 7 agreements to boost cooperation.
Tennis line judges might grimace when they hear it, but players reacted positively to them being replaced by computerised calls on the opening day of the Next Gen ATP Finals on Tuesday.
Mary Kom defeated Chinese Taipei's Meng-Chieh Pin in a split verdict in the quarter-finals to make the last four stage of the light flyweight (48kg) category.
Since we cannot get enough of desis in the Big Apple :-)
This year, Abahan Theatre's marquee play is based on the Olympic boxing medallist Mary Kom. Written by Abhijit Bhattacharya, popular Assamese actor Prastuti Parashar portrays the role of the champion pugilist from Manipur in the play.
This is the first time that the towering Croatian has made the final of the Aus Open
UEFA head Michel Platini announced on Wednesday his intention to stand for presidency of FIFA in place of Sepp Blatter.
Madison Keys beat fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe for the second time in eight days with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory on Monday to reach the second round of the Cincinnati Open.
Indian rower Dattu Bhokanal has battled adversity to secure Olympic qualification and his journey to Rio has been made even more remarkable following a childhood bout of aquaphobia and fears for his mother's health during his final preparations. Hailing from a drought-hit region in Maharashtra, the daily fight for the treasured commodity led him to develop a fear of water as a youth and it was not until he joined the army in 2012, that he learned to swim. His phobia conquered, the 25-year-old Bhokanal booked his ticket to Rio after winning a silver medal in the men's single sculls event at the Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta at Chung-ju in South Korea in April. Bhokanal gave up his studies to support his family after his father died of cancer in 2011 and his qualification can also be regarded as a reward for his ability to perform through another tragedy, which almost derailed his Olympic dreams. Shortly before he was due to depart for South Korea, his mother suffered brain damage in a fall resulting in almost total amnesia.
Former US Open champion Del Potro fired down 11 aces and did not face a break point during the one hour, 33 minutes match.
