"It's almost as if Tiley is Novak's physician at this point" - Tennis fans blast Australian Open CEO for his comments on Djokovic winning the event with a hamstring tear

After Craig Tiley confirmed a three-centimeter tear in Novak Djokovic's hamstring, the tennis world has heavily criticised the Australian Open director.

The Serb made history in Melbourne on Sunday (January 29) by winning a record-extending tenth Australian Open title, a year after he was deported from the country. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in the title clash to go level with Rafael Nadal's record of 22 Grand Slam titles and also returned to the top spot in the ATP rankings.

In a conversation with Australian radio network SEN, Tiley said that he saw Djokovic's scans and praised him for playing and winning with a 3 cm hamstring tear, which the Serb had picked up at the Adelaide International 1:

"This guy had a three-centimeter tear in his hammy. 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."

However, fans who were not sold on the extent of the injury, opining that it's impossible for anyone to even walk with a hamstring tear, let alone play tennis. They slammed Tiley for acting like Djokovic's PR manager:

"It's almost as if Tiley is Novak's physician, psychologist, pastor, ear nose, throat and thigh specialist at this point," a fan tweeted.

"He can now interpret MRI scans. The man’s a genius. Can’t pay the poor ball kids a cent who worked in extreme heat or those that worked past 3am," a user wrote.

"It’s weird to me that Craig Tiley has turned into Djokovic’s personal spokesperson," said another user.

"Who still believes Craig Tiley on anything that comes out of his mouth?" questioned another user.

Djokovic has started a record-extending 374th week at No. 1 on Monday and is a perfect 12-0 on the season.