Former Australian great says medical timeout rules need to be changed because of Djokovic

Former Australian tennis player John Alexander says the rules governing how medical timeouts are used in tennis must be changed after Novak Djokovic received treatment on his wrist after losing the second set of his United Cup tie against Jiri Lehecka .

The world number one won the match 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-1 and helped his country, Serbia, qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament.

“I think when players so routinely take advantage of these rules and obviously use them strategically to have a tactical advantage over their opponent, these rules need to be looked at a little bit more,” Alexander told the ABC Tennis Podcast.

Alexander says Djokovic’s use of medical timeouts during his career has overshadowed his achievements.

“Injury timeouts: If there’s a question mark over his greatness throughout his career, it’s the way in which, in many people’s minds, he has strategically used injury timeouts,” said the former No. 8. world.

Charging…

“After losing the second set, taking a timeout to have your wrist massaged for about five minutes, breaking your opponent’s concentration, perhaps having thoughts entering your opponent’s head, ‘wow, maybe I default, I’m done.’ “. the night’.

“Then he recovers, wins the next five games, wins the third set 6-1.

“I have to say that at this point I agree with many of my friends who say that if they don’t see blood they don’t believe there is an injury.”

Alexander added that Djokovic may like to be under an injury cloud heading into the first major of the year.

“He’s entering the Australian Open like he did last year, under the cloud of injury, maybe that’s what he needs psychologically to do his best.”

Djokovic will be looking to win his 11th Australian Open title and 25th Grand Slam title overall.