The former Australian tennis player John Alexander expressed his doubts about Novak
Djokovic's greatness, suggesting that the medical timeouts he takes raise
questions about the overall trajectory of his career. The current politician
insinuated that Djokovic strategically utilizes these breaks to disrupt his
opponent's rhythm and gain an advantage.
In the ABC
Tennis Podcast of ABC News, Alexander stated, "The injury timeouts — if
there is a question mark over his greatness in his entire career, it's the way
he has, in many people's minds, strategically used injury timeouts."
Alexander
further highlighted that Djokovic aims to affect his opponents' concentration
in specific situations, stating, "After the loss of the second set, take
an injury timeout to have his wrist massaged for some five minutes, breaking
the opponent's concentration, maybe having thoughts entering into his
opponent's head 'gee maybe he'll default, I'm all over for the night'. Then he
picks himself up, wins the next five games, wins that third set 6-1."
The tennis
fans criticized Alexander's remarks on social media. For example, a user
pointed out that other prominent players, such as Juan Martin Del Potro and
Rafael Nadal, have also taken advantage of medical timeouts in the past:
"Of
course, only Djokovic has medical time outs!!! What about Nadal's medical time
out against Wawrinka in the Oz Open final, when he was trailing? Or what about
Nadal's medical time out before a tie break against Del Potro at Wimbledon They
all do it, it isn't just Novak. And let's not talk about Tsisipas and Toilet
gate," the fan posted on Reddit.
"Ah yes using a mto to win a checks notes united cup match which is practically a charity tournament," some fan posted.
What about Nadal not playing on server's pace? What about Nadal's mto and toilet breaks? What about Nadal threatening umpires mid match? Far bigger question marks