Veteran commentator Mark Petchey believes that media scrutiny over Novak Djokovic‘s knee surgery and subsequent early return is a case in point of double standards in tennis.
Djokovic, who hasn’t played since his fourth-round win over Francisco Cerundolo at Roland Garros last month, underwent an arthroscopic surgery to treat a torn meniscus on his right knee. He was forced to withdraw from the tournament and hasn’t played since.
Initially, it was widely reported that he was unlikely to recover in time to play Wimbledon. His surgeon even shared a pessimistic view about his participation at SW19.
However, the Serb recently revealed that his knee had responded exceptionally well during his rehab and recovery, and he quickly returned to the practice courts over a week ago.
The 37-year-old has also traveled to London to prepare for the grass-court major and played at the Hurlingham exhibition, which has completely stunned most of the tennis fraternity.
Petchey, however, was quick to point out that there was not much fuss about Taylor Fritz’s recovery from an identical injury three years ago despite the American having an even shorter window to recover between the French Open and Wimbledon.
“Fritz made Wimbledon in 2021 after RG with the same issues Novak had and we heard crickets. It did show us one thing though, just how much Taylor Fritz unconditionally loves tennis (well done today btw).”
“Novak Djokovic makes it and everyone losing their mind. The double standards are wild at times in this sport.”
Djokovic mentioned that he reached out to World No. 12 once he learned that he had undergone the same procedure after competing at the 2021 Roland Garros and that he only needed 21 days to resume his season at Wimbledon.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has confirmed that he will play this fortnight. He is the number two seed, and he has been drawn to play Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva.
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