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Novak Djokovic will have limited down time before facing Canada in Davis Cup Semifinal

Neil Acharya

There won't be much time to rest for Novak Djokovic as he gets ready for Serbia's Davis Cup semifinal against Canada this weekend.

Prior to his loss in the final of the U.S. Open to Rafael Nadal on Monday evening, Djokovic took issue with the scheduling at the tournament, especially of the championship match - according to 10sballs.com:

“Monday finals don’t go in the favour of the players who are playing Davis Cup," Djokovic is quoted as saying. “And I have been playing Davis Cup semifinals for last few years. Now I have to play for my country again, which makes it much more difficult for me. It’s a different continent, different time zone, it’s clay indoors. I got injured already few times like this, and it’s something that doesn’t make me happy.”

After defeating Nadal for his only U.S. Open championship in 2011, Djokovic traveled to Belgrade to represent his country in the Davis Cup semifinal against Argentina. With five days between matches, he aggravated a back injury against Juan Martin Del Potro and was forced to retire - ending a chance for the Serbians to move on to play in the final and defend their 2010 title.

This year it looks to be an even shorter rest period for the twenty-six-year old as he is slated to appear at his charity event Tuesday night in New York, before heading home.

According to 10sballs.com, Djokovic (and Nadal) would prefer to see the U.S. Open adopt the same format as the other major tournaments:

“To be honest, I’m not in support of Monday final,” said Djokovic. “Hopefully we can have the Friday (semifinal) /Sunday (final) like in every other Grand Slam."

As Eh! Game wrote about last week, the Canadians are in tough against Serbia as they hit the clay court for the first time in 2013 Davis Cup action. Whether rest is an issue or otherwise, rising Canadian star Milos Raonic will certainly take any advantage he can get over the top-ranked Djokovic as both should meet in this weekend's marquee matchup.