Coach Goran Ivanisevic said he “found it hilarious” that certain “semi-players” had the audacity to accuse Novak Djokovic of faking an injury. Djokovic, who suffered a hamstring injury at the Adelaide International, was evidently very much struggling with his movement at the start of the Australian Open.
But when Djokovic made it past the first couple of rounds at Melbourne Park, certain media members and players started accusing the Serb of faking an injury. “I don’t know how to name these people. I’ve seen some semi-players saying all kinds of things.
Everything is documented – MRI scans, doctor’s and radiologist’s opinions etc. He doesn’t want to do it now, but Novak said that he will come out with those publicly at some point,” Ivanisevic told Sport Klub.
Ivanisevic: Yeah sure Djokovic needs to fake an injury against regular players
“We can’t stop people from saying one thing and the other, let everyone think what they want, but I find it hilarious when someone says: ‘Oh, he faked (the injury) during the match.’
Sure, the best player in the world needs to fake an injury to win against a player who would maybe take a few games off of him. He would win either way. People will always talk about this and that, what’s important is that Novak lifted the trophy.
As for the others: Sorry, guys, what can I do?” Ivanisevic added. After beating Stefanos Tsitsipas for a record 10th Australian Open title, Djokovic admitted that he was “bothered” by some of the comments that were made about him during his Melbourne Park run.
In his post-final press conference, Djokovic indicated that he was preserving the MRI scans of his hamstring to show as proof. Just a few days after the Australian Open, tournament director Craig Tiley claimed he saw the scans which showed a 3 cm hamstring tear in Djokovic’s leg.
