"Novak Djokovic makes it and everyone losing their mind" - Mark Petchey calls out "double standards"; compares Serb's injury return to Taylor Fritz's
British former ATP player Mark Petchey has bemoaned the drastic difference between the coverage of Taylor Fritz's 2021 Wimbledon outing and that of Novak Djokovic's similar situation at this year's edition of the grasscourt Major. According to Petchey, there was barely any talk surrounding Fritz when he played at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships days after undergoing a knee surgery.
However, the 53-year-old opined that there is no end to the chatter about Djokovic, as the Serb gears up to play at this year's Wimbledon after experiencing much the same kind of experience that Fritz experienced three years ago.
Right at the end of the 2021 French Open second-round encounter between Dominik Koepfer and Taylor Fritz, the latter suffered a meniscus tear in his knee. While he was able to finish the match, which he lost, he could not leave the court on his own. Surgery followed, and in 21 days, Fritz was back in action at Wimbledon, where he reached the third round.
This year, Djokovic has been through an eerily similar journey. At Roland Garros, the Serb suffered the same injury that Fritz did in 2021. The former World No. 1 did not waste much time in undergoing surgery himself, and right now, appears to have recovered well as he prepares to contest for what would be a record-equaling eighth Wimbledon title for him.
However, the constant media scrutiny and cacophony surrounding Djokovic's presence at Wimbledon has not gone down well with Petchey. In an X (formerly Twitter) post, the 53-year-old wrote how Fritz's 2021 Wimbledon appearance 21 days after surgery wasn't talked about much.
According to Petchey, the American's swift return to action showed his unconditional love for tennis. The Brit also congratulated Fritz for his recent title triumph at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne.
"Fritz made Wimbledon in 2021 after RG with the same issues Novak had and we heard crickets.It did show us one thing though, just how much Taylor Fritz unconditionally loves tennis (well done today btw)," Petchey wrote.
The 53-year-old went on to write about how the media is seemingly going on and on about Djokovic right now, before slamming the disparity in the coverage of the American in 2021 and the Serb this year.
"Novak Djokovic makes it and everyone losing their mind. The double standards are wild at times in this sport," Petchey added.
"Taylor Fritz was the first person I reached out to when I found out that he had similar injury" - Novak Djokovic
In the buildup to the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, Djokovic played an exhibition match against Daniil Medvedev at the Hurlingham Classic. During an interaction with the press there, the 24-time Grand Slam winner spoke about how he had contacted Fritz after coming to know that the American came back from the same injury and subsequent surgery in only 21 days, three years ago.
"Taylor Fritz! Three years ago he had pretty much same situation. Actually, I had probably like four, five days more than him. So, he was the first person I reached out to when I found out that he had similar injury and circumstance," Djokovic said.
The former World No. 1 also spoke highly of Fritz's kindness towards him in terms of guiding him through the recovery process.
"He was very kind to share his journey and really helped out with some of the experiences and advices, you know, how to approach it because it’s the first time I had this kind of a knee injury," Djokovic added.
Djokovic is set to start his bid for an eighth Wimbledon crown against Vit Kopriva. Meanwhile, Fritz will get his campaign at the grasscourt Major underway against Christopher O'Connell.