Wrist not assured!

A recurring wrist issue dampened Djokovic's performance, which led to a surprising 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Alex de Minaur in the United Cup's quarterfinals held in Perth last Wednesday. Djokovic, struggling with his injury-prone right wrist that was hurt during training a day before, was defeated by an outstanding performance from de Minaur, propelling his team to the semi-finals in Sydney over the weekend. Ajla Tomljanovic secured the team's 2-0 victory, defeating Serbia's 184th ranked replacement player, Natalija Stevanovic, 6-1, 6-1. Stevanovic replaced a fatigued Olga Danilovic, Djokovic's previous partner. Djokovic, World No. 1, had a disappointing performance with 31 unforced errors, leading to the end of his 43 winning streak in Australia after a 93-minute match against de Minaur. Djokovic conceded, “I wasn’t at my best; it was one of those days when I didn’t feel great. The opponent played tremendously well. That’s all there is to say. I believe I have ample time to ready myself for the Australian Open, which is the most important thing for me now. I knew I wouldn’t be 100 percent physically, emotionally, or mentally during the season’s first week. All of this is part of preparing for the Australian Open, where I want to play at my best,” Djokovic added. This win marked a revenge for de Minaur, who had lost to Djokovic a year earlier. The 24-year-old de Minaur got his first victory over a World No. 1, Djokovic, adding him to his list of victories against top players, which includes Rafael Nadal. "This was incredibly special, Novak is a terrific competitor. This feels unreal. This victory is significant,” exclaimed de Minaur.