"How is he really? Is he bluffing?" Adriano Panatta questions Djokovic's injury comeback

Adriano Panatta accuses Novak Djokovic of bluffing about his injury ahead of Wimbledon. The 24-time Grand Slam champion underwent knee surgery three weeks ago, and his almost miraculous recovery raises doubts for the Italian tennis legend.

Nole withdrew from the French Open before the quarterfinal match against Casper Ruud due to a torn medial meniscus in his right knee. The Serbian struggled physically throughout the tournament, prompting him to hasten surgery in order to return to All England Club.

Panatta raises doubts about Djokovic's rapid recovery

The recovery for the world No. 2 was impressive to compete at SW19. Just 9 days after the operation, he was on the court training for the tournament and played practice sets with several players during the week, confirming his good form a few weeks after surgery.

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In an interview with Libero Quotidiano, former Roland Garros champion Adriano Panatta raised doubts about Djokovic's injury: "Let’s say there’s a big mystery surrounding him," Panatta said. "How is he really? Is he bluffing? And his recently operated knee?"

The former world No. 4 commented that Djokovic doesn't have the favoritism he had in previous years and chose his compatriot Jannik Sinner and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz as the main contenders for the title: "At 37, he’s not the ‘Djoker’ of the good days, but I would always be afraid to cross rackets with someone who has triumphed on Centre Court seven times," Panatta opined. "He (Sinner) is the favourite against anyone except Alcaraz," he added.

Carlos Alcaraz at 2024 Wimbledon.

"They are the two excellences of current tennis in which swim other excellent players who are not champions. The current levelling cannot ignore those two who are a cut above all the other players. In a one-off match, the Spaniard has a little more, but in his career, Jannik will be more consistent."

The former tennis player shared his impressions of the match between Italians Sinner and former runner-up Matteo Berrettini in the second round: "It was a great game from an emotional point of view, but technically not very good," he said on La Telefonata podcast. "I read about the game of the century, but as usual, it goes too far.

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"They’ve both made a lot of unforced mistakes and I think it’s not normal for Sinner to make so many mistakes. It almost seems that he is surprised to play not at the best and yesterday he could not, also for the merits of Matteo Berrettini."

"I think both can do better. Jannik Sinner has played at 80% of his potential, maybe even less, given the matches against Alcaraz and Djokovic in the past. Berrettini has regained the power of service, but it moves worse than three years ago," Panatta added. "This he recovers with training and the games he lacks, he can improve and make his game. It also has to work on the reverse, it has a movement that does not convince me."