In November last year, Novak Djokovic had found himself in the midst of a bizarre controversy pertaining to a 'magic potion'. The incident had happened during his semifinal match against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Paris Masters when his physiotherapist Ulises Badio was spotted adding something to a water bottle that was later passed on to the Serb through a ball boy. The video of the incident sent social media ablaze leading to bizarre speculation theories which was eventually put to rest by his wife Jelena who called the discussion around it "nonsense" and "absurd", while calling for some "privacy".
On Saturday, the incident was given a reminder by fans of Djokovic when Carlos Alcaraz was caught in a US Open drama over an incident surrounding a bottle of pills. During his fourth round match against Britain's Dan Evans, which he won 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to make a second successive round of 16 appearances in New York and keep his US Open dream alive, Alcaraz was seen being passed on some mysterious pills by his team through a ball kid.
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It had happened during the second set when gestured towards his box before a member of his entourage was seen leaning over the barrier to pass a small glass jar containing one pill for an apparent ailment to a ball kid who then ran towards Alcaraz to hand it over.
{{/usCountry}}It had happened during the second set when gestured towards his box before a member of his entourage was seen leaning over the barrier to pass a small glass jar containing one pill for an apparent ailment to a ball kid who then ran towards Alcaraz to hand it over.
{{/usCountry}}While commentators on air called it as Alcaraz's 'secret stuff', on social media, fans of Djokovic pointed out the hypocrisy in media to not point out, talk or question the incident as they recalled the 2022 saga from Paris Masters.
Here are some of the tweets…
Alcaraz, meanwhile, will next face Matteo Arnaldi, the Italian World No. 61, who beat 16th seed Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 6-3, for a place in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Djokovic, on the other hand, completed a straight set win against Borna Bojo on Croatia to reach the quarterfinals in New York. He will be up against No. 9 seed American Taylor Fritz on Tuesday. He owns a 7-0 record against the Atlanta champion.