Former Australian tennis player John Alexander questioned Novak Djokovic’s tactics when is losing as the Serb opted for a five-minute medical timeout during his match against Jiri Lehecka in the United Cup on Tuesday.
Alexander believed that the medical timeout rules should be changed because some players take advantage of it.
"I think when players so routinely are taking advantage of these rules and so obviously using them strategically to have an advantage tactically over their opponent, these rules need to be looked at a little bit more," Alexander told the ABC Tennis Podcast.
The 72-year-old stated that Djokovic’s achievements are impeccable but if there’s one question mark over them, it is the usage of injury timeouts throughout his career.
"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," said the former world number eight.
"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.
"I have to say at this point I agree with many of my friends who say if they don't see blood they don't believe there's an injury."
It must be noted that Djokovic, who is preparing to win his record-extending 11th Australian Open title this month, didn’t seem too pleased with his right wrist in practice and occasionally grimaced in the first set.
The Serb’s trainer took a look at his wrist after the first set and Lehecka sensed an opportunity, winning the second set in a tiebreak.
Djokovic took a medical timeout before the start of the third set and came out firing, running up a 5-0 lead, eventually winning for a 6-1 6-7(3) 6-1.
It is worth mentioning that Djokovic dominated the 2023 season as he appeared in the final of all four Grand Slams Djokovic, and won three of them — Australian Open, French Open, and US Open — while he was handed a defeat by Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon.
After winning the ATP Finals after beating Jannik Sinner in straight sets in the final, Djokovic confirmed that he has no intention to stop and is now aiming for a “Golden Slam” — winning all major titles and a gold medal in the Olympics — for the next year.
