"He's playing it up nicely here and there" - Australian former tennis player Todd Woodbridge casts doubt over seriousness of Novak Djokovic's injury
Todd Woodbridge has cast doubt over the seriousness of Novak Djokovic's hamstring injury ahead of his 2023 Australian Open quarterfinal clash with Alex de Minaur.
Djokovic has been dealing with a hamstring injury at the Melbourne Major, which has increasingly hurt him with every match. Despite that, he has managed to play close to his best more often than not, which has led to many thinking that the Serbian is overplaying his injury.
Australian former professional tennis player Woodbridge, who currently works in sports broadcasting, is one of the many who have expressed doubt over the extent of Djokovic's injury.
"It looks a bit dodgy between points but once he starts running there is absolutely no problem with how he is moving. I'm not saying it's gamesmanship, it's pretty obvious he has a bit of a niggle, but at times it looks like it's about to snap off, so he's playing it up nicely here and there, but you know, that's Novak," he told Wide World of Sports.
Djokovic finds a way. fights through hamstring pain & loss of 2d set to win 6-1, 6-7 (5) 6-2 6-0. Despite struggles faced just one break point vs French qualifier Enzo Coucaud
Time to see how he and his leg fare against much higher ranked opposition like Grigor Dimitrov in R3 https://t.co/3vpDCL3THj
Woodbridge believes this is not the first time the 21-time Grand Slam champion has employed such tactics.
"Novak uses that type of energy to focus, to fire up and we've seen him use the crowd in the same way sometimes. And that's just the way he does it and we've been watching it for a long time now," he opined.
Boris Becker defends Novak Djokovic following rumors of Serbian faking injury at Australian Open 2023
German tennis great Boris Becker, who once served as Novak Djokovic's coach, has defended the Serb in light of the accusations of him faking an injury.
Becker has dismissed all talk of the former World No. 1 faking injury to throw opponents off at the 2023 Australian Open and declared that his former pupil would never resort to such tactics.
"Sometimes you think he's bluffing or can't finish the game. It's a bit of heaven and hell. That also makes it difficult for the opponent. But Novak wouldn't behave like that if he had nothing. I've known him for a long time and I know that he has problems with his thigh," he opined.
The 55-year-old stated that Djokovic's experience has helped him play through injuries and manage them perfectly during matches.
"Novak can grit his teeth when it comes to important points, but he also lets it go in less important moments," he explained.
How is he playing like this with an injured hamstring?
"35 is the new 25," Djokovic said in the post-match interview. He's really playing like it.
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