"Why would Novak Djokovic want to add drama?" - Tennis journalist comes to Serb's defense amid 'fake injury' allegations after French Open 4R win

American journalist Jon Wertheim has come out in Novak Djokovic's defence after 'conspiracy theorists' called the Serb out for faking a knee injury during his fourth-round match against Francisco Cerundolo at the 2024 French Open.

The Serb had a great start to the Roland Garros, picking straight-set wins over Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Roberto Carballes Baena in the opening two rounds. However, he had to bring his A-game to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Lorenzo Musetti in the third round. The five-setter ended at 3:07 in the night.

The World No. 1 had to play another five-setter against Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round and remarkably managed to overturn a 2-1 deficit during this encounter, defeating the Argentine 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in four hours and 39 minutes.

Djokovic was nowhere near 100% and opted for multiple medical timeouts during the match as a result of a troubling knee. However, a lot of people thought that it was a method to throw Cerundolo off his game and that he was putting on a 'fake injury' act.

American Sports journalist Jon Wertheim took to X (formerly Twitter) to defend the Serb and mentioned how he won the first set 6-1 and had no need to drop the next two sets and add drama to the match, suggesting that he was actually injured.

"His last match ended at 3:07 am…He won the first set 6-1 playing as well as ever… Then he hurt his knee… Everyone likes a good conspiracy theory. But sometimes common sense has to win out…Why would he want to drop two sets and add drama if he didn’t absolutely have to?"

"I have to say thank you to the fans" - Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic thanked the fans during his on-court interview, stating how they gave him the energy to compete amidst gruelling pain. He also said they brought a similar atmosphere to his previous match against Lorenzo Musetti.

"I have to say thank you to the fans, like in the previous match. Against Musetti it was 2-2 in the fourth set and my energy level changed completely. You gave me a lot of energy. Today the same thing happened. You gave me a lot of support. Not much more I can say," the Serb said.

He admitted that he was a few points away from defeat and gave the nod to Cerundolo for his phenomenal performance before going on to thank the crowd again.

"Perhaps I was 3 or 4 points from losing this match today. I have to congratulate Francisco because he played with excellent quality. He deserves to be applauded. The only explanation I have is thanks to you. So thank you again for all your support.”

Novak Djokovic will play Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals of the French Open. The Serb leads the Norwegian 5-1 as far as their head-to-head battle is concerned.