Novak Djokovic ‘fake’ injury uproar intensifies at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic wants your sympathy twice over.

The best men’s tennis player in the world has liberally mentioned how he is suffering through a hamstring injury at the Australian Open — where he has mostly cruised through four rounds and remains the overwhelming favorite to capture a 10th career title in Melbourne and 22nd major overall — and then played the victim when some questioned the severity of the injury. 

In the fourth round on Monday, Djokovic annihilated No. 22 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals. 

“The way my leg felt before tonight wasn’t giving me too many hopes, so to say, for the entire tournament, to go all the way through. Tonight I feel that, so I feel positive about it,” Djokovic said afterward, disclosing that he’s been on “a lot” of anti-inflammatory pills and using “different treatments and machines and stuff” to treat the hamstring injury.

De Minaur was questioned about Djokovic’s hamstring after the match, and told reporters, “Playing him, I thought he was moving pretty well, so… I don’t know.” 

De Minaur — call him a sore loser or call him a healthy skeptic — continued: “I think everyone’s kind of seeing what’s been happening over the couple weeks. It’s the only thing everyone’s been talking about. Today I was out there on court against him. Either I’m not a good enough tennis player to expose that, or… it looked good to me.” 

That question and answer struck a nerve with Djokovic. 

“I leave the doubting to those people – let them doubt,” Djokovic told Serbian media in his native language, per Tennis Majors. “Only my injuries are questioned. When some other players are injured, then they are the victims, but when it is me, I am faking it. 

“It is very interesting. … I don’t feel that I need to prove anything to anyone,” he said before wondering aloud about publishing his MRI exam results “in my documentary or on social media.”

“I am not really interested at this point what people are thinking and saying,” Djokovic said, continuing to dwell on what people are thinking and saying. “It is fun, it is interesting to see how the narrative surrounding me continues, [a] narrative that is different compared to other players that have been going through similar situations. But I am used to it, and it just gives me extra strength and motivation. So I thank them for that.”

Taylor Fritz, the top-ranked American men’s player, injected a dose of balance into the back-and-forth when he wrote on social media, “80% of players are always dealing [with] something (severity levels differ) but everyone is honesty always a little banged up… the media is only ever focusing on the top guys so there issues get more attention.”

Djokovic, 35, won the Australian Open from 2018-20 but missed last year’s tournament after taking a stance against COVID vaccination and being deported from the country.