In the opening set, after Alcaraz earned the break back following a sluggish start, Djokovic first showed signs of struggle. He did not feel at ease moving around the court and opted for a medical timeout at 4-5 down in the first set. The discomfort continued even in the first half of the second set before he put all doubts to bed as he scripted a come-from-behind win against Alcaraz.

During the first sign of an injury struggle, McEnroe said on air that he wasn’t quite convinced, reckoning it wasn’t genuine and quickly warned Alcaraz not to be “fooled” by Djokovic.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine,” the seven-time Major winner said, before he told Alcaraz: “Don’t be fooled.”

Although Djokovic lost the opening set after the match resumed post the injury delay, he soared to a 3-0 lead in the second set and wrapped it up in quick time to level the match.

After Djokovic restored parity, Patrick McEnroe asked his brother on commentary: “Did you see this coming?” And John replied, “Yes.”

It wasn’t just the John who felt Djokovic’s injury wasn’t genuine. Veteran India tennis star Purav Raja speculated the same during the post-math discussion on Sony Sports Network as he contradicted the Serb’s admission that the medication he received during the timeout “kicked in after 20, 30 minutes.” He further said: “All I can say is that Alcaraz is definitely not happy with that. Well, especially after he lost that third set.”

Alcaraz weighs in on Djokovic’s injury

The 21-year-old was asked in the post-match presser about the level in Djokovic’s game in the first two sets and in the final two. While he did not clearly speak much on the same line as McEnroe, but admitted that it was for all to see the vast difference in his level of game before and after the medical timeout.

“I think everybody saw in the second set he was struggling a little bit [with] moving,” said Alcaraz.

“I don’t know if it was more running to the forehand or running to backhand, but obviously he was struggling. Then the third and fourth set, I didn’t see anything bad from him. So I’m not saying, like, he made a show.

“I’m just saying that, I don’t know, it’s obvious and everybody saw it that he was struggling in the second set. Then the third and fourth set he showed he was really good.”