However, Djokovic did later emerge on Monday night, with images showing him having a hit on an outside practice court with his left leg heavily strapped.
“Thank you for stopping by. Everything is OK, see you at the match,” he reportedly told Serbian media after the session.
Djokovic earlier admitted that he had been struggling with an injury.
“I’ve been struggling with [the hamstring] a bit, to be honest, the last seven days,” Djokovic said on Saturday.
“But it’s hopefully not the major concern. So far I’ve been able to train, compete and play points, practice sets. Obviously, I’m being a bit more cautious.
“I’m not going full out on the training sessions, conserving the energy for next week. Hopefully it won’t cause an issue for me then.”
Djokovic is scheduled to make his return to action at the Australian Open on Tuesday night after he was banned from the country a year ago because he was not vaccinated against Covid-19.
He has won 30 of his past 31 tournament matches dating to the end of last season.
He is chasing his 10th trophy at the Australian Open and 22nd Grand Slam title overall, which would tie rival Rafael Nadal for the most by a man in tennis history.
Djokovic faces Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena on Tuesday at Rod Laver Arena in a first-round matchup.
No 2 seed Casper Ruud opens against Tomas Machac, while three-time major champion Andy Murray takes on Matteo Berrettini. The No 2-seeded woman, two-time Slam runner-up Ons Jabeur, plays Tamara Zidansek, and No 4 Caroline Garcia faces Katherine Sebov.
Monday’s key results
Women’s first round:
No 1 Iga Swiatek beat Jule Niemeier 6-4, 7-5; No 3 Jessica Pegula beat Jaqueline Adina Cristian 6-0, 6-1; No 6 Maria Sakkari beat Yuan Yue, 6-1, 6-4; No 7 Coco Gauff beat Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-4; No 13 Danielle Collins beat Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 5-7, 6-4; No 15 Petra Kvitova beat Alison van Uytvanck 7-6 (3), 6-2; No 17 Jelena Ostapenko beat Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-2; No 24 Victoria Azarenka beat Sofia Kenin 6-4, 7-6 (3); Bianca Andreescu beat No 25 Marie Bouzkova 6-2, 6-4; Marta Kostyuk beat No 28 Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 6-4.
Men’s first round:
No 1 Rafael Nadal beat Jack Draper 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1; No 10 Hubert Hurkacz beat Pedro Martinez 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-2; No 15 Jannik Sinner beat Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-0, 6-2; No 28 Francisco Cerundolo beat Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4, 6-3; No 16 Frances Tiafoe beat Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6); No 20 Denis Shapovalov beat Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1; No 29 Sebastian Korda beat Cristian Garin 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2; Alex Molcan beat Stan Wawrinka 6-7 (3), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
Stat of the day
Zero — Number of main-draw wins at the Australian Open in the professional era by Chinese men until Monday, when 17-year-old qualifier Shang Juncheng beat Germany’s Oscar Otte 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5.
Quote of the day
“Yes, we feel pressure being the top Americans and want to do well for our country, but I feel they’re on the ‘GOAT’ status and we’re not even close to reaching that, so there’s no need for us to put pressure on ourselves for that yet.” — Coco Gauff, asked whether she and Jessica Pegula feel pressure trying to represent the US after all of the Grand Slam success of Serena and Venus Williams sisters.
- with AP
