Novak Djokovic Won The Australian Open With A Torn Hamstring

It turns out Novak Djokovic won his 10th Australian Open crown — and record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title — on Sunday on a torn hamstring.

Tournament director Craig Tiley said the Serb played the tournament with a muscle tear of three centimeters—a little more than an inch—in his left hamstring on the way to winning the title and re-claiming the world No. 1 ranking.

“He gets a bad rap, but at the end of the day, I don’t think anyone can question his athleticism. This guy, I did see, he had a three-centimeter tear in his hammy,” Tiley said Wednesday in an interview with SEN Sportsday.

“The doctors are… going to tell you the truth,” Tiley said. “I think there was a lot of speculation of whether it was true or not. It’s hard to believe that someone can do what they do with those types of injuries. But he’s remarkable.”

Djokovic appeared to tweak his left hamstring during his victory over Daniil Medvedev Jan. 7 at the Adelaide International, and took a medical timeout at the time. Djokovic won the match and went on to win the Australian Open warm-up event.

“I guess if the tear were only 2 centimeters, he wouldn’t have lost a set or gone to any tiebreak sets,” ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe said by text.

Djokovic wore a bandage on his leg and was visited by trainers during the first week in Melbourne. He said he took “a lot” of painkiller pills and did various treatments to help the leg.

“Let me put it like this: I don’t say 100%, but 97% of the players, on Saturday when you get results of the MRI, you go straight to the referee’s office and pull out of the tournament,” Djokovic’s coach, Goran Ivanisevic, said after the final. “But not him. …His brain is working different.”

Djokovic is now tied with rival Rafael Nadal at 22 majors heading into Roland Garros in late May.

ESPN’s Brad Gilbert put the over/under on Djokovic majors at 26.5 because Djokovic remains in such great physical condition and is motivated to keep playing at this level.

“I still think he could be winning two a year for the next three years,” he said on air.