Novak Djokovic departed Indian Wells two weeks ago with serious concerns. Aside from his one encouraging result, a supreme performance in his Australian Open quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz, the first few months of the year had been grim. Father time had undeniably gained ground on him.
The hamstring injury Djokovic suffered against Alcaraz forced him to withdraw from his semi-final against Alexander Zverev after one set. After tearing his medial collateral ligament at the French Open last year, this setback marked his second grand slam withdrawal inside a year after two decades of good health.
