After being away from the tennis courts for almost a month, Novak Djokovic returned to action at the 2022 Paris Masters, and one of his matches featured a small controversy.
After beating Maxime Cressy, Karen Khachanov, and Lorenzo Musetti all in two sets in the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season, Djokovic saw some resistance from Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals.
The Greek was able to take one set from the experienced Serbian, and push him all the way, as match was decided in the final-set tie-break, with Djokovic winning the match 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(4).
But when he needed to overcome some struggles in the match, the Serbian asked for his special potion, which his team had prepared on the sidelines. Later, the bottle was given to him, but because of the situation's secrecy, many people questioned it online.
Some even went as far as suggesting that Djokovic may have used some banned substances, which is obviously highly improbable, given that players are regularly tested.
His wife, Jelena Djokovic, was quick to respond to some of those comments, as she found them ridiculous, especially since she probably knows what was in the bottle given to her husband.
According to Jelena Djokovic, there was nothing about dodgy about the situation. She called the moment private, as she explained the situation.
"I don’t see anything dodgy. In fact, I see people trying to be private about their business in a world where everyone feels like they have every right to point camera at you whenever they want. Apparently, wanting/trying to be private makes you dodgy nowadays."
In a high-stakes moments such as this one, players often need to gain some advantage over their opponents, and sometimes, the advantage may be even in some, legal, drinks, prepared by their teams.
Therefore, it's not surprising that Djokovic wanted to keep a secret about what was the mix that he has received during the match.
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