Rafael Nadal, uncle Toni play mind games with Novak Djokovic ahead of Australian Open QF

With the hubbub of the quarantine controversy now over and a lack of overly exciting results or spectacular comebacks to talk about, a rather mundane event seems to have captured the fascination of the tennis world. The Novak Djokovic injury at the ongoing Australian Open 2021 has taken everyone by storm. Djokovic's earliest injury complaints came through when he was meant to be playing an exhibition match in Adelaide where the world No. 1 turned up halfway through a match after initially pulling out citing an injury.

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Rafa and Toni Nadal get in on Novak Djokovic injury conspiracy claims

Novak Djokovic looked hale and hearty through his ATP Cup games, beating Sascha Zverev and Denis Shapovalov. He also blitzed past Jeremy Chardy in straight sets in Round 1 of the Australian Open. His four-set win over Frances Tiafoe was followed by a tough five-setter against Taylor Fritz — which is when all the trouble began. Twice during the match, Djokovic took medical timeouts to treat an abdominal tear. Later, Djokovic hinted that he may not be able to continue on in the Slam at all due to the injury. 

However, the Serb showed up and did away with Milos Raonic in Round 4. There was no sign that Djokovic had 'faked' his injury to gain any sort of 'mental advantage' over Raonic — who is surely too experienced and smart to fall for something of that sort either way. Djokovic looked in pain through his match and has clearly not been at his best. He also admitted that had this not been a Grand Slam he may have pulled out but that he had chosen a combination of rest and painkillers to get him through his matches. 

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Chiming in on this odd controversy were Rafael Nadal and his uncle Toni Nadal. Rafa — not naming Djokovic — talked about how he had played the 2009 US Open with a similar abdominal strain and ended up losing in the semi-finals after the condition became worse. The Spaniard also took a shot at his rival, saying that "when you really, really have an injury, it’s impossible to win a tournament like this”. Joining him was his ex-coach and uncle, who wrote his critique in a column for El Pais, saying:

“Who also seems to have overcome his physical problems is Novak Djokovic, who has managed to qualify for the quarter-final round after defeating Canadian Milos Raonic. In the case of the Serbian, it is surprising that so repeatedly annoyances come over him, to the point of sowing doubts about his permanence in the tournament, and then disappear overnight.”

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Djokovic vs Zverev live

Not making things any easier on himself, Djokovic is matching young No. 6 seed Alexander Zverev point for point at their quarter-final match. Zverev won the first set 7(8)-6 before Djokovic dominated him to make it 6-2, 6-4 in the next two. The fourth set has seen the German secure an early break to serve up at 2-0. 

Also Read | Novak Djokovic Injury Update: World No. 1 Under Pressure Ahead Of Crunch Quarter-final

Image Credits: Australian Open Twitter