It seems Novak Djokovic might be pulling a card from his old tactics once again at the Rod Laver Arena. Playing against Carlos Alcaraz in the QF round—their first at a Slam—of the 2025 Australian Open, on Tuesday, the 10-time AO king took a medical time-out due to a possible injury. He wasn’t looking too good in terms of movement on the court. Thus, he asked for a break momentarily while trailing 4-5 in the first set. However, fans are now speculating on social media that it’s nothing but a strategic move by the 24-time Grand Slam winner—thanks to John McEnroe. How come?

During the highly awaited contest between Alcaraz and Djokovic, McEnroe was commenting as part of the ESPN broadcast. To everyone’s surprise, the seven-time Major winner said, “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine [from Djokovic]. Don’t be fooled.” To this, his co-commentator and brother Patrick McEnroe asked, “Did you see this coming?” John’s reply? A resounding “Yes”. After taking the MTO, he resumed and things were looking as if nothing had happened to him in the first place.

For the unversed, Djokovic had walked off the court with the event’s medical team to see if he sustained a major injury. Prior to that, he was seen having a difficulty in his leg after a long rally against Alcaraz. Few minutes later, he came back and eventually lost the set 4-6. But strangely, things changed drastically for him in the second and third set!

The Serbian who was finding it tough to cover the court, went on to clinch back-to-back sets with a score line of  6-4, 6-3. As of this writing, he’s leading in the match.

But what about Alcaraz? The 21-year-old evidently lost focus after the controversial timeout. And as per the last round of updates coming from a post-game interview, Djokovic’s latest opponent opened up about the Serbian’s “antics”. “I think everybody saw in the second set he was struggling a little bit to move. I don’t know if it was more running to the forehand or running to backhand, but obviously he was struggling. Then the third and fourth set, I didn’t see anything bad from him,” Alcaraz said.

“So I’m not saying, like, he made a show. I’m just saying that, I don’t know. It’s obvious and everybody saw it, that he’s struggling in the second set. Then the third and fourth set he showed he was really good.”

Djokovic, on the other hand, revealed he noticed how Alcaraz lost his focus after the injury timeout, and said, “Look, I feel for him. I understand that it’s not comfortable to play someone that you don’t know if he’s going to retire or not. Is he moving? Is he running? What’s happening? I felt that he was looking at me more than he was looking at himself.”

Interestingly, this is not the first time Nole has been accused of strategically planning his injury timeouts. During the 2015 Australian Open, Djokovic took an MTO after Andy Murray had gone 2-0 in the second and third sets. “Don’t worry about him. He does it all the time,” Murray said, before Djokovic came back to beat him in straight four sets.

Spanish player Carreno Busta also added his two cents in the matter after their French Open quarterfinal match—though the Serb didn’t take an MTO, but only a massage during a changeover—saying, “Every time the game gets complicated, he asks for medical assistance. He’s been doing this for a long time. He didn’t surprise me. It was a good thing. It was a sign that he was losing and that I was playing well, because he always does that.” What’s more?

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During a similar MTO incident during the 2016 US Open final against Stan Wawrinka, the latter had even complained to the umpire about Djokovic’s timing of the break. While Djokovic seemed apologetic toward his opponent, Patrick McEnroe wasn’t convinced: “Complete abuse of the rules. Up to the officials to do something about it, but they don’t have the guts.” 

Having said that, after observing the turnaround of events in the QF round against Alcaraz, and what McEnroe observed, many tennis fans are also siding with the former American ATP legend.

Fans agree with John McEnroe’s comments on Novak Djokovic’s planned MTO

One fan, wondering about Djokovic’s injuries fading away in no time, wrote, “If you sustain an injury, it doesn’t magically disappear if you keep on playing sports. Now Djokovic is running around as if he is 20 years old again.. it’s at least very questionable, right?”

To understand it better, one can roll back the time to 2024 when former Australian ATP pro John Alexander had commented similarly on Novak Djokovic and his frequent MTOs while trailing in a match and then emerging as a winner. “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,” he told ABC.net back in January 2024.

Alexander’s reaction came following the United Cup match between Jiri Lehecka and Djokovic, where the latter had a treatment on his wrist after losing the second set. Eventually, he won that encounter 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-1. Another fan echoed this sentiment, saying, “Good question. Always arises when we talk about Djokovic and injuries. Apparently, he always recovers quite well. Some magic maybe?”

Meanwhile, one user couldn’t help but agree with McEnroe’s remarks and wrote that “He is correct.” Remembering a similar MTO-situation from his third round match against Tomas Machac, one fan pointed out, “Come on its a classic djoko thing. Against Machac he looked like he was dying then against Carlos in Cincinnati the same thing …how many times we ve seen it. Every time the opponent seems to freeze and believe it.”

One fan brought Djokovic’s current trainer and former ATP pro Andy Murray into the spotlight. “Ask Novak’s coach Andy Murray what he thinks about his “injuries” during these kind of matches 😉 EVERY TIME!” 

What are your thoughts on Djokovic taking the MTO in the Australian Open QF round against Alcaraz? Do you see it as a strategy as well? Let us know in the comments below.