Novak Djokovic lashes out at critics as hamstring injury severity revealed

Novak Djokovic was forced into retirement in his Australian Open semi final. Now he has lashed out at those doubting his injury claims, with an expert revealing the true amount of damage done.

Novak Djokovic blasted “all sports injury experts” when he posted the results of a scan that demonstrated the extent of the leg injury which shattered his Australian Open dream.

Djokovic left the court to a chorus of boos on Friday when he retired from his semi-final against Alexander Zverev after dropping the first set in a tiebreak.

The 37-year-old said a tear in his upper left thigh, which was heavily strapped, had made it impossible for him to carry on.

Djokovic posted the results of an MRI exam he had in Melbourne that highlighted a large, dark area inside his thigh.

Respected sports medico Dr Peter Larkins then revealed an AFL player would spend 4-6 weeks on the sidelines if they suffered the same injury as Djokovic did in the Australian Open.

This is a 4-6 week injury if AFL player- ND did well to play at all given his amazing athleticism pic.twitter.com/OH2uniGr4a

— Dr Peter Larkins OLY (@doclarkins) January 25, 2025

“Thought I’d leave this here for all the sports injury ‘experts’ out there,” wrote the 10-time Australian Open champion above the image he posted to his X account.

The post had attracted more than four million views within four hours of appearing.

Djokovic was forced to retire due to the injury. Picture: Getty Images

The loss to Zverev ended Djokovic’s latest bid to claim a record 25th grand slam title.

“I did everything I possibly could to basically manage the muscle tear that I had,” Djokovic said after his loss to Zverev.

“Towards the end of that first set, I just started feeling more and more pain. It was too much to handle for me.”

Zverev leapt to the defence of the Serbian after some in the crowd made clear their feelings about his premature exit from the semi-final.

“I think we should stop blaming Novak,” Zverev said.

“Novak has done everything he could on the tennis court in the last 20 years.”

Originally published as Novak Djokovic lashes out at critics as hamstring injury severity revealed