Mark Petchey, a former British tennis player, and Andy Muray’s ex-coach shared his thoughts on Novak Djokovic’s quick recovery from his injury concerns in Australia.
The former World No. 1 defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinal of the 2025 Australian Open in four sets. After the first set, he felt a discomfort in his left thigh but played the entire match with heavy strapping. Djokovic came out as a winner but with a hamstring injury, which even led to him retiring from the semifinal after the first set against Alexander Zverev.
When the Serbian won the quarterfinal despite the injury and then retired after the first set in the semis, many ex-pros and fans mocked him for faking it. Later, Djokovic posted an MRI scan of the muscle tear in his left hamstring on X, which quashed all doubts. After this, many speculated that he would not be in action until the clay season which begins in April and May.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion announced that he will participate in the Qatar Open and is almost 100% fit to compete at the highest level. The tournament begins on February 17.
In the ‘Inside-In Tennis Podcast,’ Mark Petchey commented on Novak Djokovic’s ability to quickly recover from any injury setbacks and cautioned people to not believe everything said on the internet.
“Yeah, it is well ahead of schedule. It’s phenomenal that like he’s looking to potentially get out and play. I mean, obviously a couple of weeks after sort of Australia. There was some rumours like only a week ago that he was only going to come back in Madrid on the clay. So never believe anything you read, especially on the Internet,” he said.
The Serbian legend has a knack for recovering from injuries in no time and has shocked people from time to time, again and again.
