Novak Djokovic’s knee injury from the Australian Open seemingly flared up in the aftermath of his Qatar Open campaign this week going by a video of him limping that is doing the rounds of social media. Many fans have since undermined the extent of the Serb’s physical niggles, if their reaction to the video is anything to go by.
Djokovic received a medical time-out for his right knee during his quarterfinal win over Carlos Alcaraz in Melbourne, which ultimately forced his mid-match retirement against Alexander Zverev in the next match. A few days later, the 24-time Major winner revealed to the tennis universe that he had torn his right hamstring as he took to social media to post a picture of his MRI scan.
Although the 37-year-old was expected to be on the sidelines for two months, he surprised fans by entering this week’s Qatar Open. Unfortunately, the former World No. 1 failed to go deep at the ATP 500 tournament as he crashed out in the first round to Matteo Berrettini.
On Friday (February 21), a video surfaced on X (formerly Twitter) where Novak Djokovic could be seen limping at the departures at the Hamad International Airport in Doha, suggesting that his knee injury has worsened.
However, many in the tennis community believe that he may have been putting up an elaborate act for sympathy, as evidenced by one fan’s reaction.
“Unbelievable – Djokovic is faking injuries now off court #Faker,” the fan wrote on X.
Another, meanwhile, doubted the genuineness of Djokovic’s past disclosure about his right hamstring tear.
“Wow what a liar,” they wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from social media:
“This guy saw the guy filmingand started limping, Oscar worthy performance,” one fan joked.
“He is a certified faker even McEnroe and Becker have spoken about it,” another insisted.
“The guy was walking fine, then saw someone filming and started limping HAHAHAHA,” one fan claimed.
“Fakervic for a reason,” another wrote.
“A Djoke,” one fan joked.
“‘Best longevity’, ‘like wine’,” another fan wrote, questioning the Serb’s longevity.
7-time Grand Slam winner John McEnroe also gave a similarly critical analysis of the Serb which turned quite a few heads.
John McEnroe on Novak Djokovic’s knee injury: “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine, don’t be fooled”
John McEnroe, meanwhile, copped a lot of criticism during his coverage of the Australian Open quarterfinal clash between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz for ESPN in January. The Serb was seen clutching his right knee as he dropped the first set to the Spaniard, following which he took a medical time-out in the changeover.
At this point, eight-time Major winner McEnroe expressed his skepticism of Djokovic’s physical niggles. Moreover, he also suggested that the MTO represented a pattern for the Serb as he beckoned fans to ‘not be fooled’ by his struggles.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine. Don’t be fooled,” John McEnroe said on-air for ESPN in Melbourne.
The 24-time Major winner is next scheduled to play at the Indian Wells Masters next month. Even though the five-time titlist will likely be eager to play at the Palm Springs event, it is unclear whether he will fly for the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
