Serbia’s legendary tennis star
Novak Djokovic has hinted that
harsh words from the former world number one
John McEnroe was one of the
reasons which pushed him to share his MRI scan after withdrawing from the
Australian Open. The 37-year-old is regarded as the greatest player in the
history of men’s tennis in the singles category, having won as many as 24 Grand
Slam titles.
Djokovic’s most recent appearance in a Grand Slam came in Melbourne
earlier this year. He was forced to retire from the semifinal against
Germany’s Alexander Zverev after just the first set. The former world number
one suffered the injury during the quarterfinal against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz
but miraculously managed to stay on the court and cemented his spot in the last
four despite losing the first set.
During the match, McEnroe, who was working for one channel
as a broadcaster, questioned Djokovic’s injury by stating: "This isn’t the
first time we’ve seen this routine. Don’t be fooled.” A few days later, the Belgrade-born star shared an image of his MRI showing the gravity of the injury he
sustained during the competition. Djokovic has been recently quoted in a report
where he stated that one of the primary reasons for doing that was to answer
critics like McEnroe who questioned his injury.
"Well, I was provoked by the fact that several times in
a row, as long as I was in Australia, I was injured on the 21st and the 23rd,”
he said. “I can't say everyone, but I felt a fairly large group of people
thought that it was not true and that my injuries were actually some kind of
provocation on my part or to play strategic mental games with my opponents. And
I would not have reacted if some legends of our sport had not reacted. I think
that when some things remain on social media, that's fine, but when it
escalates to the point where people have a dilemma and simply question my
integrity and the credibility of what I said. Especially when it comes from
some people who are really legends of the sport and who have a multi-million
audience that listens to them when they broadcast the matches, then I felt the
need to react, to show the recording from the MRI.”