Novak Djokovic won the 2023 Australian Open title despite a 3cm hamstring tear, according to tournament director Craig Tiley.
Djokovic recently won his 22nd major men’s singles trophy to equal Rafael Nadal for the most in history as he registered his record-extending 10th title at Melbourne Park.
The 35-year-old dropped one set across the entire tournament and repeatedly denied claims that he was faking or exaggerating his hamstring problem.
Tiley has now revealed the severity of the Serbian’s injury as he told Australian outlet SEN Sportsday: ‘This guy I did see, he had a three-centimetre tear in his hammy.
‘Absolutely (I saw the scans), the doctors are going to tell you the truth. There was a lot of speculation about whether it was true or not, it’s hard to believe that they can do what they do with those kinds of injuries.
‘He’s remarkable, to deal with it extremely professionally. That’s what he eats, what he drinks, when he does it, how he does it.
‘There’s no breakdown or mental breakdown in anything that he does. He’s been through a lot and to win 10 Australian Opens, I don’t think that’s ever going to be repeated. He’ll hold a significant place in the history of the Australian Open.’
Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic, speaking after the final, said that most players would have pulled out of the tournament had they suffered the same problem.
He said: ‘Let me put it like this. I don’t say 100%, but 97% of the players, on Saturday when you get results of the MRI, you go straight to the referee office and pull out of the tournament. But not him.
‘He gave everything… Every day was kind of better and better. I didn’t expect this. Okay, first two rounds okay, but then against (Grigor) Dimitrov I was very scared. But he got through and in the end he won the tournament.’
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