Former Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee says medical timeouts should be better policed after two of the sport’s biggest names spent lengthy periods off court receiving treatment.
Novak Djokovic, the 10-time Australian Open champion, came under scrutiny for leaving the court during his epic four-set triumph over Carlos Alcaraz – a victory which put him in the semis for the 12th time.
Afterwards, the 37-year-old conceded he’s starring in another Australian Open soap opera. Djokovic did not practice on Wednesday, having said he was a “day-by-day” proposition as he battles another painful injury.
Novak Djokovic leaves centre court for a medical timeout.Credit: AP
The drama around Djokovic came a day after world No.1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner took a long medical timeout during Monday’s fourth-round victory over Holger Rune.
When asked about the controversy surrounding medical timeouts, McNamee said: “I’m not a big fan of it, I’ve got to say.”
“Unless there’s a modesty issue, I think it should happen on court,” he said.
“And you’ve got three minutes, and that’s it.
“I don’t think it’s fair to the opponent to stop a match for 10 minutes, even five minutes. It’s meant to be three minutes and [it] should be policed strictly.”
After dropping the opening set against 21-year-old Alcaraz, Djokovic battled with what appeared to be a groin-related injury to pull off one of his best wins in Melbourne.
When the Serbian doubled over in pain on Rod Laver Arena, renowned commentator and seven-time grand slam singles champion John McEnroe said on ESPN: “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine. Don’t be fooled.”
When the American’s brother and co-commentator Patrick McEnroe asked, “Did you see this coming?” John replied, “Yes”, tennis and news websites and Serbian media have reported.
While declining to “go into details” about the exact nature of the injury, Djokovic said it was similar to the hamstring tear he carried through his epic run to the 2023 title.
“I haven’t done any tests. I mean, I’ve done tests with the physio when they took me off the court, when I had the medical timeout,” Djokovic said.
“He strapped me, and then the doctor gave me some medication, [and] so forth – some painkillers.
“That kicked in after 20, 30 minutes. It did help. Then I had to take another dose, I think, in the beginning of the fourth [set].
“Now that it’s cooling off, I can start to feel different things. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow and day by day.”
On Monday, the world’s best player Sinner looked to be headed for the Australian Open departure gates until he was rescued by a controversial medical timeout of his own.
On the hottest day of the event so far this year, the Italian was dizzy and pale-faced as he split the first two sets with the dangerous Rune. Sinner’s hands could be seen shaking violently as he held a towel over his face at a changeover.
The doctor attended Sinner at the next changeover, and he went off court for a six-minute consultation while Rune – as he described in his own words – was left “sitting in the heat, cooking out there”.
McNamee couldn’t understand the level of criticism directed towards Djokovic, who he conceded was an easy target in Australia.
“I can’t believe people are pointing to Novak when Jannik did that the day before,” said the former Australian doubles champion.
“I mean that 11 and a half minutes [medical time out] – give me a break.”
Paul McNamee.Credit: Sebastian Costanzo
Alcaraz, who has reached back-to-back Australian Open quarter-finals, said his wounded opponent adopted an aggressive mindset.
“I think he did great – great hits, great shots. He started to play more aggressively, [to] try not to move so much in the second set,” said the Spaniard.
“I think everybody saw in the second set he’s struggling a little bit … I don’t know if it was more running to the forehand or running to backhand, but obviously he was struggling.
“Then [in] the third and fourth set, I didn’t see anything bad from him.
“I’m not saying he made a show. I’m just saying that I don’t know. It’s obvious and everybody saw it that he’s struggling in the second set.”
Djokovic slowly-but-surely wore down Alcaraz in a classic major quarter-final that lasted three hours and 37 minutes. On court, he conceded that if he’d dropped the second set it may have spelt the end.
“Since I’m still in the tournament, I don’t want to reveal too much,” Djokovic said.
“The medication started working and I had to take a second dose. That sounds terrible, Djokovic said.
“To be honest, if I lost that second set, I don’t know if I would have continued playing.
“I felt better and better – [I] managed to play a great couple of games to end the second set. I could see Carlos was hesitant from the back of the court and started to feel better and move better. It was no hindrance at the end of the match.”
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