{"id":1816605,"date":"2026-03-09T20:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1816605"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:30:09","slug":"novak-djokovic-survives-huge-indian-wells-scare-as-star-overcomes-physical-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1816605","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic survives huge Indian Wells scare as star overcomes physical concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Novak Djokovic survives huge Indian Wells scare as star overcomes physical concerns<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/oli-dickson-jefford\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Oli Dickson Jefford                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"09 Mar 2026 8:30 PM\" data-ps-date=\"09 Mar 2026 8:30 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1773088209\"><br \/>\n                            09 Mar 2026 8:30 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                       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             <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Novak Djokovic survives huge Indian Wells scare as star overcomes physical concerns\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Novak-Djokovic-serve-Indian-Wells-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Novak Djokovic during his service motion.\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Novak Djokovic during his service motion.                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Novak Djokovic fought his way through to the fourth round of Indian Wells on Monday, but the manner of his win wasn\u2019t entirely convincing.<\/p>\n<p>In an intriguing contest inside Stadium 1, world No 3 and five-time Indian Wells champion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Djokovic<\/a> overcame a significant scare against home favourite Kovacevic, righting the ship in the closing stages to claim a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 triumph.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic had been forced to battle back from a set down to beat Kamil Majchrzak 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in his opening match on Saturday, though he started more impressively against Kovacevic in this third-round contest.<\/p>\n<p>However, the world No 3\u2019s level then dropped dramatically during the second set, and world No 72 Kovacevic more than took advantage \u2014 breaking twice on his way to forcing a decider.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Djokovic nor Kovacevic gave too much away throughout large stages of the third set, though the Serbian broke in the decisive tenth game to seal victory.<\/p>\n<p>Asked during his post-match interview how he had approached his latest test, the 38-year-old admitted the match was demanding both mentally and physically.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not really enjoying myself at all times, to be honest,\u201d conceded Djokovic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, you are trying, obviously, to thrive in these kind of conditions, where you\u2019re facing an opponent that is playing almost lights-out tennis.<\/p>\n<h2>Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/aryna-sabalenka-naomi-osaka-preview-highly-anticipated-indian-wells-showdown\">Aryna Sabalenka &amp; Naomi Osaka preview their highly-anticipated Indian Wells showdown<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/atp-tour\/carlos-alcaraz-jannik-sinner-compared-federer-nadal-djokovic-murray\">Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner\u2019s levels compared to \u2018Big 4\u2019 legends by leading coach<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou get tight, you\u2019re maybe not swinging through the ball as well as you want to, but \u2018winning ugly\u2019, right? That\u2019s what counts in the end to get the W and I\u2019m glad to be able to overcome the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic is now through to the fourth round of Indian Wells for the first time since 2017, and will now look to reach the quarter-final for the first time since 2016.<\/p>\n<p>The Masters 1000 event was cancelled in 2020, and Djokovic skipped the event from 2021-23, though the prestigious tournament has evidently not been his happiest hunting ground ever since winning his fifth title a decade ago.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic has not been at his best across his opening matches against Majchrzak and Kovacevic, and there were signs that he was struggling physically during this latest match.<\/p>\n<p>The 38-year-old was seen stretching out his leg during the second set, and also appeared to be breathing heavily after more physically demanding rallies.<\/p>\n<p>The Serbian will have the advantage of a full day of rest ahead of next match, and the best-of-three format will also arguably benefit his physical recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic is now set to return to action on Wednesday, facing either 20th seed Francisco Cerundolo or 14th seed and reigning Indian Wells champion Jack Draper in the fourth round.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Read Next<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/can-carlos-alcaraz-break-one-of-novak-djokovic-greatest-atp-records\">Can Carlos Alcaraz really break one of Novak Djokovic\u2019s greatest ATP Tour records?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novak Djokovic survives huge Indian Wells scare as star overcomes physical concerns Oli Dickson Jefford 09 Mar 2026 8:30 PM Novak Djokovic during his service motion. Novak Djokovic fought his way through to the fourth round of Indian Wells on Monday, but the manner of his win wasn\u2019t entirely convincing. In an intriguing contest inside [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1816605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1816605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1816605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1816605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1816605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}