Djokovic, the injury was true: “He had a three-centimeter tear in the tendon in Melbourne”

A three-centimeter tear in the left hamstring. This is the extent of the injury suffered by Novak Djokovic during the Australian Open. Faced with the accusations of having faked, after the victory on the Rod Laver Arena in the final over the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the ATP number one had promised that he would show the results of the MRI he had undergone at the beginning of the tournament. He hasn’t done it yet, but he has revealed the details Craig Tiley, the CEO of Tennis Australia and tournament director who said he had seen the exam results. Results that, said his coach Goran Ivanisevic in the press conference at the end of the tournament, “they would have convinced 97% of tennis players to call the referee and remove themselves from the scoreboard”.

“A three-centimeter tear in the hamstring”

“I don’t think anyone can question Djokovic’s athleticism, he played with a three-inch hamstring tear,” Tiley told Sportsday, a radio show that has aired on the Sports Entertainment network since 2009. “I’ve seen the ultrasounds, the doctors will tell you the truth – explained Tiley -. It is difficult to think that he could have done what he did with a similar injury. He dealt with the situation with extreme professionalism. He is always very concentrated in everything he does, every single minute of the day. He is attentive to what he eats or drinks, to what he does and how he does it, without ever taking a break”.

Djokovic suffered most noticeably in the first week. He played with a showy bandage, he moved less fluidly especially in the second round match against the French Couacaud, and he also admitted that he didn’t train between one game and another. “I tried every biofeedback machine in the world to be ready, and it worked – he said -. I don’t think I have to prove anything to anyone. In the first week it affected me a lot, then from the second round onwards I realized that the injury was behind us now.”