'They Made a Whole Story Out of It': Djokovic Slams Media Frenzy Over Shortened Practice

Neck Massage and 12-Minute Session Spark Online Firestorm – Djokovic Sets Record Straight with Facts and Sarcasm

© DAVID GRAY / AFP

Jules Hypolite

le 17/01/2026 à 20h30

1 min to read

Djokovic Novak

A few days ago, Novak Djokovic had sown doubt after a shortened practice session, limited to a dozen minutes due to neck pain.

But facing journalists this Saturday, the Serb sought to reassure everyone, stating that the facts had been distorted by the media and that he had trained extensively earlier that same day.

“Nobody mentions that we had trained two hours”

“I have neither the desire, nor the time, nor the energy to react to every headline, video or whatever else that may have come out (in the media). I have never sought to provoke all these controversies in recent years, but they have followed me anyway.

I come here and I see on the internet that they're talking about Miljan coming to massage my neck or that we “only” worked 12 minutes. Nobody mentions that we had trained two hours just before, then again in the gym afterward, and that only these 15 minutes were necessary, not a whole hour.

People have built a whole story out of that, then a photo of the massage is circulated, and it's chaos. Everything catches fire, to the detriment of healthy and constructive discourse.

There are many positive things to write about me, but they choose that. Why they do it, who they are and what the reasons are, we could talk about it until tomorrow... There always needs to be a bit of controversy (laughs).”