Novak Djokovic seemingly pulled a muscle during his clash against Daniil Medvedev at the 2023 Adelaide International, and it seemed that his opponent mocked it.
The two, who are arguably among the best players on the ATP Tour at the moment, met at so-called warm-up tournament before the first major of the season, the Australian Open.
As the first and third seeds, Djokovic and Medvedev met in the semifinals of the tournament, and it was a straightforward two-set win for the Serbian, who beat his opponent 6-3, 6-4. However, it wasn't without some injury issues for the veteran and living legend.
After moving slower than usual for a few games, Djokovic emerged with a spectacular level towards the end of the second set, but his opponent wasn't impressed. At one point, Medvedev looked over to his bench and seemingly mocked Djokovic's injury by grabbing the spot that Djokovic had injured earlier in the match.
He was alluding to the sudden rise in level by Djokovic, who didn't look injured at all at the given moment. He has a bit of a reputation when it comes to injuries that miraculously vanish in matches, so that's maybe why the Russian did what he did.
He also limped between points a few times for the same reason. However, after the match, the Russian praised the qualities of his opponent.
"Honestly, losing against probably best player in the world right now."
On the other hand, Djokovic, who will take on Sebastian Korda in the final of the tournament, was busy explaining his injury and whether he was forced to change his gameplan.
"Not necessarily, to be honest. Let's see how it feels when I wake up tomorrow. Obviously playing day by day, having a little bit of an injury, it's not ideal. But it's not first time that I get to experience specific circumstances like this one. I know what to do with my team, with my physio. Hopefully it will feel good. Let's see. I don't have so much time, but I hope enough."
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