Adriano Panatta claims Novak Djokovic faked injury at the Australian Open to trick players

Novak Djokovic's injury was seen as an excuse and criticized by the legendary Italian tennis player

Adriano Panatta claims Novak Djokovic faked injury at the Australian Open to trick players

Novak Djokovic and Adriano Pannata

Adriano Panatta, the Italian tennis legend and winner of the 1976 French Open, has launched a scathing attack on Novak Djokovic after his 2023 Australian Open title victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas. Panatta claims that Djokovic was unethical and used his injury as a distraction to throw his opponents off their game.

Tennis journalist Mario Boccardi tweeted about Panatta’s statements and criticized him. These statements were made on the television channel Rai2. Panatta claimed, “He likes to distract his opponents,” “Crying like this is not okay,” and that “He faked the injury” when talking about Djokovic and his injury. The statements showed him to be bitter about Djokovic’s win.

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The comments under Boccardi’s tweets were full of criticism of Panatta. Many claimed that he was known for such disrespectful comments in Italy. Some pointed out that Panatta had previously been hostile towards Djokovic when he was reluctant to hand him an ATP title after he beat Roger Federer in the final.

Djokovic has played- and won- the Australian Open with a hamstring injury. He picked it up at the Adelaide International 1 before the start of the Slam. He was forced to take medical timeouts till the quarterfinals to allow him to complete games. Many have questioned the seriousness of the injury due to the quality of Djokovic’s tennis. But all critics ended up believing the Serbian in the end.

Djokovic won his 10th Australian Open and 22nd Grand Slam title on Sunday. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas to secure the title.

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Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas
Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas

Tsitsipas vs Djokovic was an eagerly awaited clash. They were the third and fourth seeds, respectively. The duo had played high-quality tennis while other contenders and high-ranked players were eliminated early.

Despite being injured, Djokovic went in as the favorite. He played a match befitting that tag. Djokovic started the game on fire. He left Tsitsipas shocked as he raced into a 4-1 lead. He went on to secure the set 6-3. But Tsitsipas settled himself and hit back strongly. He held his serve throughout and took the game to set point at 5-4. Djokovic staged a dramatic comeback at that point. He won that game and then the set in the tiebreak.

The last set was just as tense. Both players won alternative games to take the match to 6-6. Djokovic dominates the initial exchanges to take it to 5-1. He then loses some focus and soon it’s 5-3. He wins the next point to go to three championship points. Djokovic loses two of them before he finishes the job.

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