Tournament organizer Craig Tilley revealed: “It’s almost unimaginable that someone can do what Novak did with an injury like that. He’s extraordinary”
Novak Djokovic proved earlier this week what a great athlete he is when he over Stephanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Championship final and won the 22nd Grand Slam title in his career. He equaled Rafael Nadal as the all-time best, and it doesn’t seem like he intends to stop anytime soon. Now it’s easy to forget that the Serbian had to withdraw from a warm-up match against Daniil Medvedev, a few days before the start of the tournament, due to an injury. At times, Djokovic did not look 100 percent healthy, which did not prevent him from losing only one set throughout the tournament. Now, organizing a championshipAustralia’s Craig Tilley reveals the reality the champion has had to face – an almost unimaginable reality, considering how this tournament ended. “I saw – he had a three-centimeter-long tear in the hamstring muscle,” claimed Tiley. “The doctors will tell you the truth. I think there’s been a lot of speculation whether it’s true or not, because it’s almost unimaginable that someone could do what Novak did with an injury like that, but he’s just extraordinary.” Tilley added: “Djokovic is focused on everything he does, every minute of today. What he eats, what he drinks, what he does, how he does it. There are no voltage drops. To win the Australian championship ten times, I don’t think anyone willAble to reproduce it.” The more they torture him, the more he will break out: Novak Djokovic enjoys shutting your mouth. Another chapter in the legend: Novak Djokovic won the Australian Championship for the 10th time. Djokovic to Walla! Sports: “I want my opponents to come to say goodbye From me too, like Federer”
During the championship, Djokovic was asked by the media in his homeland how he responds to all those people who claim that he exaggerated the severity of his injury. “Whoever wants to doubt, let him doubt,” he said. “Only About my injuries they raise an eyebrow. When other players get injured they are victims, but for me – it’s like I’m faking it. I’m already used to it.” After the win, the Serbian said similar things. “When I went up to the stand I fell apart emotionallyAnd I burst into tears next to my mother and brother as I hugged them,” he said. “Because until that moment, I didn’t allow myself to be distracted by all the things off the field, or by all that happened with my injury… It could easily have distracted me, hurt my concentration, in my game It takes a tremendous effort and an investment of a lot of energy from me to stay present, stay focused, take it in stride, day after day, and see where I can get to.” His coach, Goran Ivanisevic, added after the win: “Let’s put it this way: That 100 percent, but 97 percent of the players who receive such MRI results on the Saturday night before the tournament, go straight to the referee’s office and announce their retirement from the tournament. But not him.He gave it his all. And every day it got better. I didn’t expect it… ok, one round, or two, but after that I was really scared. But he went on and on and finally won the tournament… he’s getting crazier and crazier, I can tell that. Madness in a positive sense, of course.”