While Novak Djokovic was forced to retire from his semifinal match due to his hamstring injury, World No.1 Jannik Sinner defended the title.

Novak Djokovic, Patrick Mouratoglou, Jannik Sinner (Images via X, Wikipedia)

Renowned tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou lauded Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner for winning matches at the Australian Open in spite of dealing with physical problems. Djokovic suffered a muscle tear, while Sinner struggled due to an illness.

Djokovic, after taking a medical timeout during the first set against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, denied the Spaniard a chance to achieve the Career Grand Slam with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win. The Serb, however, was forced to quit his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev after losing the first set.

Sinner, on the other hand, somehow won the fourth-round match he played against Holger Rune. He was struggling due to an illness because of which, he was seen shaking and even took a controversial 11-minute timeout.

Mouratoglou, who used to coach Rune but is now in Naomi Osaka‘s team, praised the two players for winning matches despite not being 100 percent fit. The Frenchman also claimed that a player competing with an injury also affects the opponent because the latter is ‘not able to play completely free’.

I like the comparison between Novak being injured and beating Carlos, and Jannik being sick and beating Holger. There are two comparisons, actually, the first one is that those guys are able to still compete and win, at 30, 40, 50% of what they can do, which is amazing, and it’s the quality of the champions.

Patrick Mouratoglou said on his Instagram

Check out his post here:

Novak Djokovic could play Qatar Open despite hamstring injury

Novak Djokovic‘s hamstring injury raised eyebrows as some critics thought he was faking the injury. After his Australian Open exit, he shared a picture of his MRI scan to shut up ‘injury experts’.

Novak Djokovic (Image via X)

Then ESPN’s Chris Fowler discussed the severity of Djokovic’s injury and claimed that the 24-time Grand Slam champion could be out for two months. But now Serbian outlet, Sportal, reported that there’s a possibility of Djokovic playing the Qatar Open.

As per the report, the Serbian great, with daily therapists and treatments, has repaired the injury and received a green light from the doctor. The report also claimed that Djokovic’s rupture was not serious and he could start training in the next few days.

The Men’s tournament in Doha is scheduled to start on February 17. Djokovic won the Qatar Open in 2016 and 2017 and if he plays, then it will be the fifth time he will participate in the event and the first since 2018.