Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta has hit out out at Novak Djokovic by questioning the legitimacy of his injury status following their clash at the French Open.
The world No.1 took to the court with tape on his neck and underwent treatment on his arm during his Wednesday clash at Roland Garros. Djokovic appeared to be far from his best early on in the encounter after going a set down but managed to fight back and defeat Carreno Busta 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Making it the tenth time he has reached the last four of the tournament in his career.
Although Carreno Busta has questioned if his opponent was struggling with an injury to begin with during his press conference. Speaking to the media, he took a swipe at the top seed by claiming he always takes medical time-outs when he doesn’t need them. He then added that the issue for Djokovic might not have been physical but mental in some way.
“Every time the match becomes a bit difficult for him, he asks for the doctor,” said Carreno Busta.
“I don’t know whether he has a chronic problem with his shoulder or it is simply a mental issue that he does that every time he is in trouble.
“But it is not something that made me lose my focus because I already knew.
“I knew it was going to happen at the US Open and I knew it was going to happen here. And I also know that it will keep happening.”
Prior to his clash with Carreno Busta, Djokovic was seen having treatment on his neck during a practice session on the same day. Although when asked by the media what the exact problem was the 17-time Grand Slam champion refused to go into the specifics of what he is currently dealing with.
“I definitely didn’t feel great coming into the court today. A few things happened in the warmup. I had to deal with those physical issues coming onto the court. As the match went on, I felt better, didn’t feel as much pain,” said Djokovic.
“I had some neck issues and some shoulder issues. I’ll just say that. I don’t want to get really too much into it. Obviously I’m still in the tournament, so I don’t want to reveal too much.” He later added.
The match was the first meeting between the two since the US Open fiasco which Carreno Busta won as a result of Djokovic getting disqualified for accidentally striking a lines judge was a ball. They have played each other five times on the Tour in total.
Djokovic will play Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the French Open final on Saturday.
