Concern over extent of Novak Djokovic's hamstring injury

Djokovic sustained the left leg injury early in his pulsating four-set quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 Australian Open.

The Serbian had his thigh strapped during a medical timeout in the first set and revealed after the match he had taken two doses of medication to help him play through the pain.

Late in the opening set and for much of the second set, Djokovic's movement was hampered and he grimaced with discomfort.

The 37-year-old adopted an ultra-aggressive approach to win the second set, and his movement and level improved as the match progressed, allowing him to seal a stunning victory.

Djokovic was forced to retire due to the same injury after losing a lengthy opening set in his semi-final clash with Alexander Zverev on a tiebreak.

Following his unfortunate exit in Melbourne, Djokovic shared an image of an MRI scan confirming a hamstring tear in his left leg as he called out those who doubted his injury.

"Thought I'd leave this here for all the sports injury "experts" out there," the 24-time Grand Slam winner wrote on X.

Speaking on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Stubbs predicted how long it will take Djokovic to recover from his injury.

"He showed the scan, the tear in his hamstring," the former doubles world No 1 said. "That's a nightmare. That is minimally six weeks, minimally. I would say two months, minimally. Well then again, he'll get in his hyperbaric chamber maybe."

Andrea Petkovic was also worried by the MRI scan, but she highlighted Djokovic's unique recovery capabilities.

"Honestly, I had unfortunately a lot of MRI pictures to look at and when you can see it that obviously that much liquid in the thing⦠I am not a medical person at all," the former world No 9 replied.

"But I know, I have seen enough of them that when you have a big white blot that is this big, you are f***ed basically.

"The thing is, Novak, he is getting older, but he is different in terms of recovery.

"I always say that, and this is really important, if you start to do all these things Novak does tomorrow, you are not going to get the same effects.

"But since he was 17, he has been drinking green juices and doing yoga and doing his breathing exercises and meditation. But he has been doing this for 20 years. That's why his body is in the shape that he can even play like this."

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