Djokovic raised concerns when he left court to receive treatment during the first set of his match against Alkaraz. He returned with heavy straps on his thighs and quickly lost the opening set.
The 37-year-old continued to flinch and chat during set two, but John McEnroe was among those unconvincing, and raised a conspiracy that Djokovic had falsified or exaggerated his injuries.
“This is not the first time I’ve seen this routine. Don’t be fooled,” the American said. Djokovic won the match in four sets, but defeated two sets and suggested he retired if he admitted he was “worried” ahead of the next match.
Even Alkaraz questioned his claim. “Tennis players considering retirement won’t play the third and fourth sets his way,” he later said.
Djokovic took him to court three days later for a semi-final contest with Alexander Zverev, but retired after losing his first set of 81 minutes. Some fans booed him off the court, but he later returned to the suggestion that he was injured.
World No. 6 shared a video of his MRI scan and showed that he tore a muscle into his thigh. “I thought I’d leave this here to all sports injuries ‘experts’,” he tweeted.
However, not all tennis fans are convinced. Express Sports readers have been split, with 49% claiming Djokovic being injured, and 51% believed him.
There has been a lot of debate about the injury to the Serbs. Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick also hinted that Djokovic is facing Alkaraz.
Speaking on his podcast, the retired star said:
“It didn’t work that way in my career. If I pulled the gro diameter, it tended to keep pulling a bit and probably get worse.”
Djokovic was forced to withdraw from Serbia’s recent Davis Cup tie with Denmark due to injuries. He has signed up for the Qatar Open in Doha, which begins on February 17th, but it remains to be seen if he will compete.
