When Novak Djokovic was playing Australia’s Alex de Minaur during the quarterfinals of the United Cup 2024, he said that the tournament physio had refused him a medical stoppage.
On Wednesday, January 3, in Perth, Australia, Djokovic was soundly defeated by de Minaur. In the opening set, the Serbian was forced to preserve three break points after failing to threaten de Minaur’s serve. De Minaur did, however, manage to break one of his serves to win the first set 6-4.
A similar tale played out in the following set as de Minaur stepped up his game to challenge the 24-time Grand Slam winner, who was clearly having wrist pain. In the second set, the Australian broke through with five aces as well as won 33 points to win the set as well as match.
The tournament physiotherapist treated Djokovic’s injured wrist on the court during the match. He said during the news conference after the game that the ailment required further attention, but the physiotherapist chose not to give the superstar a medical timeout.
He said, “Well, I mean, I asked for the medical timeout but he said that you can’t get medical timeout. You can only get a changeover if the injury is already existing, he explained. So I didn’t understand really what that means.”
“That’s why he didn’t think that I should get a medical timeout” : Novak Djokovic
The Serbian added, “But he [physio] said that I told him that it was improving, so that’s why he didn’t think that I should get a medical timeout. I said it was improving before the match, but then as the match progressed yesterday, and also today particularly, was getting worse, so I needed treatment. He didn’t want to give me one. So that’s all. There’s not much more I can say,”
Additionally, Serbia’s United Cup campaign was ended on Wednesday after their compatriot Natalija Stevanovic of Serbia fell to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in the women’s singles rubber.
