A video of tennis superstar Novak Djokovic’s team preparing a drink during his shocking loss to Danish Danish teenager Holger Rune in the final of the Paris Masters has gone viral on social media.
Rune, 19, pulled off the biggest win of his career with a stunning 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over the 21-time grand slam champion, but all the talk centred on a viral clip from Djokovic’s semi-final victory.
Team Seen Changing Position to Block Camera View After Realizing They’re Being Filmed
The video was taken during Djokovic’s win over Stefanos Tsitsipas and appears to show the Serbian’s physiotherapist, Ulises Badio, mixing a drink for the athlete. Badio is seen reaching into a backpack to grab a bottle of water before mixing ingredients together for the mystery drink.
As soon as members of the team realise there is a camera on them they shift their seating positions to block the view. The water bottle is then handed over to a ball-girl, who ran it over to Djokovic.
“Can anyone who knows tennis explain what is going on here, and why it’s being done this way? It looks amazingly dodgy,” Journalist Damian Reilly, captioned the clip on Twitter. Watch it below:
Twitter Reactions
The clip has since garnered over 4 million views on Twitter with many raising concerns over the suspicious drink.
Leading tennis journalist Ben Rothernberg labelled it “bizarre” and called for more transparency about the substances players take.
“I’ve always thought there should be more transparency about the substances players take, particularly during matches, but I’ve also rarely thought anything was likely amiss,” he tweeted.
“But golly, the body language in this video is bizarre. What does the Djokovic team think needs hiding?”
Another user commented, “Clearly they’re doing something that they shouldn’t be. Why else would they try to hide it??”
Djokovic’s ‘Magic Potion’ Incident
This is not the first time Djokovic has been questioned over his refreshments during matches. The athlete was previously asked about an unknown substance he appeared to inhale at Wimbledon this year with the 35-year-old saying it was a “magic potion.”
“You’ll find out soon,” he added at the time, “but I can’t speak about it now.”
