Novak Djokovic won his 10th Australian Open men’s singles championship and record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title while playing with a muscle tear in his left hamstring, tournament director Craig Tiley said.
“He gets a bad rap, but at the end of the day, I don’t think anyone can question his athleticism,” Tiley said Wednesday of Djokovic in an interview with SEN Sportsday. “This guy, I did see, he had a three-centimeter (approximately one-inch) tear in his hammy.”
“The doctors are … going to tell you the truth, I think there was a lot of speculation of whether it was true or not. It’s hard to believe that someone can do what they do with those types of injuries. But he’s remarkable.”
Djokovic, who assumed the World No. 1 ranking again with the win, sustained the injury during a tune-up tournament in Adelaide, just ahead of the Australian Open. The 35-year-old from Serbia wore a bandage on his left thigh to begin the Australian Open.
The fourth-seeded Djokovic posted a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) win over third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece to capture the title on Sunday. Djokovic’s 22 Grand Slam titles are tied with Spaniard Rafael Nadal for the men’s record. Only two women — Margaret Court (24) and Serena Williams (23) — have more.
–Field Level Media
