The crowd in Melbourne, Australia, was not kind to Novak Djokovic early Friday morning.
In his quest to extend his record with a 25th Grand Slam, Djokovic only managed to play one set, withdrawing from his Australian Open semi-final match after tearing a muscle in his left leg.
The withdrawal sent Alexander Zverev into Sunday’s final against Jannick Sinner, and left the crowd disappointed.
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Novak Djokovic of Serbia gathers with his bags after retiring from his men’s singles semi-final match against Alexander Zverev of Germany on day 13 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 24, 2025. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)
After conceding the match to Zverev, who won the set, fans booed him as he walked to the locker room.
Djokovic stopped, turned around and responded by giving two thumbs up.
Zverev made his disappointment with the crowd known.
“Don’t boo a player when he comes out with an injury. I know everyone paid for tickets and everyone wants to see a great five-set match, but you have to understand that Novak Djokovic is someone who has given this sport for the last 20 years absolutely everything of his life,” Zverev said in his on-court interview.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia comes out after his match against Alexander Zverev of Germany in the semi-finals of the men’s singles at the Australian Open 2025 at Melbourne Park. (Images by Mike Frey-Imagn)
“You’ve won this tournament with an abdominal tear. You’ve won this tournament with a hamstring tear. If you can’t continue a tennis match, it really means you can’t continue a tennis match. Please be respectful.”
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John McEnroe added on the call: “They can’t be booing.
“I mean, clearly something was going on. The guy is a fighter. I mean, him and Rafa [Nadal] I’ve dug deeper than the two players I’ve seen. So to do that because he decided he couldn’t continue after what he’s done here, I thought was absolutely ridiculous, honestly. That was almost as depressing as watching the end of the game.”
Djokovic suffered the injury during his five-set classic with Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, but said the pain was getting “worse and worse.”
“Towards the end of that first set, I started to feel more and more pain, and it was too much for me to handle at the moment. So, yeah, unfortunate ending, but I tried,” Djokovic said.
“I knew that even if I won the first set, it was going to be a big uphill battle for me.”
He withdrew from last year’s French Open before the quarterfinals after tearing the meniscus in his right knee during a match.
Djokovic underwent surgery a couple of days later and immediately reached the final at the next major, Wimbledon, then won a gold medal for Serbia at the Paris Olympics.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts on a point against Alexander Zverev of Germany during their men’s singles semi-final match on day 13 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 24, 2025. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)
This will be Zverev’s first final at the Australian Open and the third final of his career. He also made the final of last year’s French Open, as well as the 2020 US Open.
