AO boss Craig Tiley has pulled back the curtain on Novak Djokovic’s injury crisis, revealing that the Serb won his 10th trophy In Melbourne essentially playing on one leg.
The tennis suit, whose box office survival depended heavily on Djokovic after the late injury pullout of drawcard Nick Kyrgios, said that the Serb won the title while playing with a three-cm hamstring tear.
With Djokivic’s pat reputation for over-stating his injuries, Tiley admitted that the story could be hard for doubters to swallow.
“A lot of the issues surrounding Novak is that he has a bad reputation. After all, I don’t think anyone can question his athleticism,” the South African said to radio SEN Sportday.
“He had a three-centimeter tear in his thigh. I saw the scans, doctors don’t lie.
“He has been through a lot and winning 10 times in Australia, I don’t think he will ever do it again.
“He will occupy an important place in the history of the Australian Open .”
It has now emerged that the 35-year-old sustained the tear in his Adelaide semi-final win over Daniil Medvedev in early January.
He came back the next day and won the title while injured over Sebastian Korda but faced a fitness fight for the rest of the month after traveling to Melbourne for the Open which began on January 16.
“There was a lot of speculation as to whether this was true or not… It’s hard to believe someone could do what they do with these types of injuries, but he is extraordinary,” Tiley added.
