Novak Djokovic needed injections after French Open scare as Serb gives apology

has revealed that he needed injections to recover from a minor physical issue after reaching the third round of the French Open. The three-time former champion beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-2 7-6(1) but sparked fears when he received a medical time-out in the third set and had to battle his way back from a break down.

The world No. 6 then held a heavily delayed press conference, apologising for his tardiness and revealing that it took an hour to recover from the minor blister issue. Djokovic now has two days to recover before he faces qualifier Filip Misolic.

Djokovic was in cruise control against Moutet when they met on Court Suzanne-Lenglen earlier on Thursday, in what was the Serb's first appearance on the second showcourt at this tournament since 2023.

But things suddenly went south when he called the physio and received treatment for a foot issue, then went a break down. He quickly got back on serve and had to save a set point before racing through a tiebreak to seal victory.

It took a while for Djokovic to address the media. When he finally did, he apologised and explained that he needed to deal with the blister.

Asked what it was like to recover from matches and physical issues now that he was older, the 38-year-old replied: "Look, the recovery time is not much longer, I feel like.

"I mean, I'm pretty fit at the moment. I don't feel like I have any major issues. Although it took me, like, almost an hour to deal with the blister and the bleeding that I had.

"So they had to use the injections and draw the blood out and then inject something to dry out the blister. So that was, you know, not really a pleasant process. But it is something that, you know, anyone who has blisters that are bleeding has to do it."

After saying sorry for the delay, Djokovic suggested he would be fine for his next match.

He added: "So that's why I'm also late with you guys, and I'm sorry for that. But I don't think it's going to be an issue for me to recover.

"I mean, three hours was a lot of running, straight sets, but three-hour match is a good three-hour session. Good thing about slams obviously you have a day in between. So plenty of time to recover and get ready for next one."

Djokovic also had to battle the French crowd in the more intimate setting of the second biggest showcourt at Roland Garros.

"Yeah, I mean, it was a good match, a good fight, particularly in the third. Things got a little bit complicated with the blister. That was bothering me for a bit," he said.

"I ended out the match well, moving well, playing a great tiebreak. Obviously atmosphere was electric, especially in that third set. He was close to win it, so the crowd got involved.

"And it was, yeah, not much fun for me. Of course it's never easy, but I try to stay calm and do what I need to do, and I think I have done that in a really good way."

But he won't have to worry about that in round three as he takes on Austrian qualifier Misolic, who stunned 27th seed Denis Shapovalov in five sets on Thursday.

However, Djokovic does have one schedule request - anything but a night session, which would clash with the Champions League final. "It's going to be PSG that I will support. I will definitely watch it if I'm not playing night session. Yeah, that will be nice. FYI, Roland Garros schedule..." he smiled.