Novak Djokovic's fans send death threats to tennis player Arina Rodionova after she poked fun at Serb's injury
Novak Djokovic's hamstring injury, one of the major talking points during the 2023 Australian Open, has once again popped up. After recently taking a dig at the Serb, Russian-born Australian player Arina Rodionova revealed she received death threats from his fans.
After being deported in 2022, Djokovic returned to his favorite tournament after two years. He lifted a record-extending 10th title to equal Rafael Nadal's record of 22 Majors.
However, the 35-year-old picked up a hamstring injury during the semifinals of the Adelaide International 1 ahead of the Australian Open. This forced him to strap his left leg and play with pain throughout his seven matches at the Rod Laver Arena.
The iconic player asked for medical timeouts during his matches but continued advancing with a high level of tennis. Many fans raised concerns over his injury's authenticity, which divided the tennis world.
A few days ago, Australian Open director Craig Tiley revealed that the player suffered a three-centimeter muscle tear in his leg. Rodionova, meanwhile, recently took to social media to mock the Serb, saying:
"So I have a three-centimeter tear in my hamstring and I've done some research. I should be good to go tomorrow."
A day later, she slammed Djokovic's fans for sending her death threats. Rodionova stated that with hamstring injuries, people could barely walk, let alone play tennis and win Grand Slam titles. She also poked fun at them for the World No. 1's stance on COVID-19 vaccines.
"Not sure why I am getting all the death threats from Novak's fans," Rodionova wrote. "For some reason, people think I was joking about the injury. Tears in hamstrings is not a joking matter, people go to the hospitals with those, and can't walk for days, you guys. Shame on you for turning this into a joke."
"Some can win Slams but the rest of us have to take time off. Also I am guessing you aren't for the vaccines but pretty sure the one against rabies will do wonders," she added.
Djokovic fans have sent death threats to Arina Rodionova all because she posted an Instagram story suggesting that "she'll be fine tomorrow" despite a 3cm tear in her hamstring.
Shame on Djokovic fans. But again, it isn't surprising that they have resorted to death threats. https://t.co/oddx2q4zxM
Paul McNamee defended Novak Djokovic over allegations of faking injury
Amidst Novak Djokovic's injury debate, former doubles World No. 1, Paul McNamee has shared his verdict. He stated that he had never seen worse on-court movement from the Serb.
McNamee added that the World No. 1 overcame his injury 'by being the best player' by quite some distance.
"For the record, I’ve never seen Djokovic move that badly, or go for so many winners… it’s a no brainer he was carrying an injury, but he was dedicated enough and good enough to overcome it. How? By being the best player right now by a good margin," McNamee tweeted.
