Not every narrative ends with a fairy tale! Following a commanding performance en route to the semifinals in his fortress, Novak Djokovic‘s unexpected exit was met with jeers from the crowd and a slew of criticism. In pursuit of an unprecedented eleventh Australian Open title at the renowned Rod Laver Arena, the Serbian champion could not secure his twenty-fifth Grand Slam victory, falling just short of his anticipated triumph. But were his reasons entirely genuine? Rafael Nadal’s uncle and former mentor expressed his reservations, citing an interesting reason.

The story begins with the intense QF clash on January 21st at the AO, where Novak Djokovic faced off against Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in their 8th head-to-head encounter. As the match went on, the drama unfolded when, with the Spaniard leading 5-4 in the opening set, Novak called for a sudden medical timeout. He returned to the court though, with his left leg heavily strapped along with his new coach, Andy Murray, by his side. And despite the setback, Djokovic won the match after dropping the first set. However, the injury proved detrimental. Unable to train for two days before his SF match against Alexander Zverev, Nole lost the first set. But the lowest point came when Djokovic disappointed the audience by retiring from the match, extending a controversial thumbs-up to the discontented spectators. And now Toni Nadal has added fuel to the fire, sharing his take on Serb’s injury saga.

Toni Nadal penned down his thoughts for El País about the Serbinator’s injury incident. He mentioned, “Another question is that we ask ourselves, once the facts have been given, the reason for that protest that was unleashed in the stands. Firstly, I understand that the public showed their disappointment and anger at being deprived of the expected spectacle after having paid an entrance fee for it. But the second reason, and probably the most important, is that, over the years, a certain mistrust has been fostered around Novak, due to his grimaces or histrionics, which has sown doubts about the veracity of his injuries”.

Toni further continued about how Nole expresses even the slightest of pain with his body language: “When a player faces physical problems in a match of this nature, he normally waits until the end to decide to retire. He calls the physiotherapist, plays a few games impaired and, only when he sees the inevitable fate, does he decide to retire. On more than one occasion we have seen Novak with similar performances, with facial gestures and body language that contradict what we are seeing on the court and that sow certain doubts about the authenticity of his problems.” However, this analysis from the veteran coach is hardly unfounded.

Novak Djokovic’s injuries have left many questioning in the past, but the Serb hit back

Carlos Alcaraz was the first to cast doubt on Djokovic’s QF performance, saying, “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 was struggling in the second set. Then the third and fourth set he showed he was really good.”

Novak faced similar blame in his triumphant 2023 AO run. Todd Woodbridge, after a match against Alex de Minaur, commented that Djokovic was seemingly “playing up” his pain. But coming in from Adelaide International with a hamstring injury, his struggles compelled tournament director Craig Tiley to comment: “This guy I did see, he had a three-centimetre tear in his hammy. Absolutely (I saw the scans), the doctors are going to tell you the truth”. And Djokovic rallied back: “I leave the doubting to those people – let them doubt. Only my injuries are questioned. When some other players are injured, then they are the victims, but when it is me, I am faking it. It is very interesting…”

This time too Djokovic didn’t take the hits lying down. Before the Final between Sinner and Sascha, the Serb reacted to the skepticism on his X handle. Posting a picture of his MRI scan, he wrote, “Thought I’d leave this here for all the sports injury “experts” out there.” While Novak’s response may have silenced many, some voices continue to clamor and question the circumstances. And in the wake of all this, how the Serb fares the remainder of the season, time will tell.