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Novak Djokovic‘s remarkable journey on the men’s tour was not without criticism and controversies. Aside from his anti-vaccination stance, the Serbian tennis great has often been a target of scrutiny owing to his medical timeouts during his matches. Even at the very start of this new season, the current number 1 player has once again been criticized after taking an injury timeout at the United Cup.

The ‘Djoker’ recently helped his country, Serbia, qualify for the quarterfinals of the international hard-court tennis tournament. However, despite his phenomenal victory, the 36-year-old player was lambasted by the Australian tennis veteran John Alexander for his sly ‘strategic move’ at the United Cup.

Novak Djokovic faces brutal criticism for his medical timeout decision at the United Cup

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The 24-time singles Grand Slam champion was recently up against Jiri Lehecka at the ongoing international hard-court tennis event. After losing the second set of his match, Novak Djokovic took a medical timeout as he received treatment on his wrist on the sidelines.

He later stepped back on the court and went on to turn the match in his favor as he clinched a win in a three-set match, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-1. Even though he won the match, Djokovic’s injury timeout decision has promoted the former Australian tennis player John Alexander to issue some candid statements in the latest episode of the ABC Tennis Podcast.

While he opened up about how the Serb’s medical breaks during his matches have cast a shadow on his remarkable on-court accolades, the former world number eight player said, “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.” During the unfiltered conversation, the former tennis pro further asserted that he believes that players are now taking advantage of these rules.

The Australian tennis veteran on how players are ‘strategically’ using injury timeouts

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In the same podcast show, John Alexander spoke candidly about his views that players frequently use these injury breaks “strategically” to gain a tactical advantage over their rivals. While lambasting their sly strategic on-court moves,  the Australian tennis veteran also asserted that these medical time-out rules need ‘to be looked at a little bit more.’

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He said, “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.”

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What do you think of the Australian tennis veteran brutally criticizing Djokovic for his injury timeout decision at the United Cup? Let us know in the comments section.

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