Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open while battling a three-centimetre tear in his hamstring, it’s been revealed.
There were plenty of sceptics to the seriousness of Djokovic’s injury, after he opted to go strapping-free on his leg in the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas last Sunday night.
And the tennis great defied his critics to win a record 10th Australian Open and a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam title in straight sets.
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Now in the aftermath of his historic win, Open organiser Craig Tiley has revealed just how impressive Djokovic’s victory was – given the extent of his injury.
“I think a lot of the challenges around Novak is he gets a bad rap but at the end of the day, I don’t think anyone can question his athleticism,” he said on SEN.
“This guy, I did see he had a three centimetre tear in his hammy. He had a tear (in 2021) in his stomach.
“(Questioned: So you saw the scan?) Absolutely.
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“The doctors are going to tell you the truth.
“I think there was a lot of speculation on whether it was true or not.
“It’s hard to believe that someone can do what they do with those types of injuries, but he’s remarkable.”
Djokovic was troubled by his hamstring injury from the tournament’s outset and even admitted he wasn’t able to practice in between games such was the seriousness of his complaint.
He had his leg heavily strapped throughout the early rounds, but it lessened as the tournament went on.
He described it as going “through hell” with his treatment and recovery. but said he was always determined to play on.
“I‘ve tried about every biofeedback machine there is on this planet in order to get my leg ready. And it worked. I’m going to keep going,” Djokovic said.
“I don‘t feel like I need to prove anything to anyone. It did affect me, especially in the first week.
“From the fourth round onwards, I felt like it was behind me … It actually helped my tennis a lot because I felt like I could run free. I was not thinking about it.”
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Tennis great Jim Courier defended Djokovic throughout the grand slam as he was accused of “faking his injury”.
“The evidence I would present, if I was presenting the case on his behalf, is simply he‘s not moving to the ball and doing that motion as much as he normally would,” Courier said.
“He is making adjustments at a major – a grand slam tournament – that you just would never see him do unless he was concerned about a problem.
“It doesn‘t hold up to the logic test that he would be faking this. Makes no sense.
“Because by doing different motions he could risk injuring himself in a different way.”
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Tiley described Djokovic as the ultimate “professional” and someone who had enjoyed a “remarkable achievement”.
“He’s so focused on everything he does – every single minute of the day. What he eats, what he drinks, when he does it, how he does it,” he said.
“There’s no mental breakdown ever in what he does.
“To win 10 Australian Opens, I don’t think that will ever be repeated.”