“He didn’t want to give me one,” Novak Djokovic sheds light on the ‘timeout’ exchange he faced during recent injury scare on court

Djokovic seems upset over his medical time out incident at the United Cup.

“He didn’t want to give me one,” Novak Djokovic sheds light on the ‘timeout’ exchange he faced during recent injury scare on court

Novak Djokovic (Credits: Eurosport)

Amidst heavy criticism of taking yet another controversial strategic medical time-out during his clash with Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic during the United Cup event in Perth, Novak Djokovic reflects on his conversation with the physiotherapist. He had called a medical time-out mid-match to deal with an apparent wrist injury scare.

Shedding some light as to what exactly happened as he enquired about a timeout from the umpire, the World No.1 stated, 

Well, I mean, I asked for the medical timeout, but he said that you can't get medical timeout. You can only get a changeover if the injury is already existing, he explained. So I didn't understand really what that means. But he said that -- I told him that it was improving, so that's why he didn't think that I should get a medical timeout.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion admitted to feeling confused as the match umpire refused to allow him to get the medical aid he needed. Djokovic took a medical timeout in his previous game against the Czech-Republican team after losing the second set of the match. Some fans believe this was done intentionally to disrupt the momentum of his opponent to give him some time to get back on his feet.

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Djokovic, on his part, also shared that the match official wasn’t keen on giving him the time out. He shared:

I said it was improving before the match, but then as the match progressed yesterday and also today particularly was getting worse, so I needed treatment. He didn't want to give me one. So that's all. There's not much more I can say.

Novak Djokovic’s shocking upset in the United Cup brings up a possible injury scare ahead of the Australian Open

As the World No.1 suffered a shocking defeat to Alex de Minaur of team Australia in the United Cup, he was seen suffering from an apparent forearm and wrist injury. The Serbian took a medical time out to deal with a possible injury scare ahead of his most favorite and successful tournament, the Australian Open. This is the first time the Serbian legend has lost on Australian soil in 6 years, creating a streak of 43 unbeaten matches.

Novak Djokovic with physiotherapist
Novak Djokovic with physiotherapist (Credits: Open Source/X)

As some tennis fans and followers are concerned about a possible injury, many others, including former players have condemned the World No.1 for intentionally taking a strategic medical timeout and misusing this provision given to athletes and using it for their own advantage during difficult situations in a match. Only time will tell how serious an injury it is.

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