Novak Djokovic has sensationally retired mid-match in his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev after losing the first set in a tiebreak.
And Australian Open fans have been slammed for booing the champion Serbian star after he finally succumbed to an injury he battled throughout the tournament.
‘Yes, I did everything I possibly can to manage… manage the muscle tear that I had and, yes, medications and I guess the strap and the physio work helped to some extent today,’ Djokovic said after walking from the court with the score at 7-6 (7-5).
‘But, yeah, towards the end of that… that first set, I just started feeling more and more pain and it was, yeah, too much to, I guess, to handle for me at the moment. So, yeah, unfortunate ending, but I… I tried.’
Djokovic – who was on track for a record 11th Australian Open and 25th grand slam victory – walked immediately to the chair umpire to say he could not go on after dropping the set in a tiebreaker after one hour and 21 minutes on Friday afternoon, local time.
The former world No.1 again had his left thigh heavily strapped after hurting himself in his quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday night.
Djokovic stunned the tennis world when he retired after losing the first set in his semi final against Alexander Zverev at Melbourne Park on Friday
Djokovic embraces Alexander Zverev after he was forced to put an end to his Open campaign
Djokovic said then he would likely have to skip routine practice before playing Zverev, but declined to reveal the exact details of his injury.
The 37-year-old did say it was of a similar nature to the hamstring complaint he nursed while winning his 10th Open title two years ago.
The extraordinary scenes propelled 27-year-old German Zverev into his maiden Australian Open final, and the third grand slam title match of his career.
The world No.2 lost the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem as well as last year’s French Open decider to Alcaraz.
Pockets of the crowd booed Djokovic as he left the court, with Zverev defending his rival.
‘Please, guys, don’t boo a player when he goes out with injury,’ he told the crowd.
‘I know that everybody paid for tickets and everybody wants to see hopefully a great five-set match and everything.
‘But you’ve got to understand, Novak Djokovic is somebody who has given this sport for the past 20 years absolutely everything of his life.
Some fans booed Djokovic after he walked from centre court – with Zverev defending the tennis icon and admonishing the crowd afterwards
The Serbian champion required a medical timeout during his quarter final against Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (pictured), with that injury appearing to flare up badly on Friday
Djokovic cut a dejected figure in his post-match press conference
‘He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear. He has won this tournament with a hamstring tear. If he cannot continue a tennis match, it really means he cannot continue a tennis match.’
Australian ex-star John Millman, who was in commentary for host broadcaster Channel Nine, also called for tennis fans to ‘have some respect’.
‘Look, the crowds have been questioned a lot and rightly so,’ he said.
‘I just think it’s a bit of a shambles, some of the behaviour has crossed the line, and that [the reaction to Djokovic’s withdrawal] takes the cake for me … I don’t care how much you spent on your ticket, have some respect.
‘He is one of the greatest of all time, if not the best, definitely the best on this court. Have some respect.’
Former grand slam champion John McEnroe, also in commentary for Nine, was left shocked by the retirement – and the crowd’s reaction.
‘They [the crowd] can’t be booing him, for god’s sake. He has won this 10 times. Unreal,’ McEnroe said.
‘We all wondering how he was going to hold up after the match with Carlos Alcaraz.
‘But he was managing things. Clearly, things were tight, with Zverev getting the nerves out. It was a closely contested set.
‘He missed the volley and I thought he wasn’t going to miss it.
‘And next thing you know, the only guy happy in the stadium was Zverev. When he put his hands… The look in his eyes was like, “What?” We were all like, “Oh, my god”.’
Other tennis fans were quick to defend the 37-year-old in comments made online.
‘Very well said by Zverev. It was terrible to boo him. Just think how bad he feels to retire from the semi of a grand slam. Not my favourite player but I feel bad for him,’ one posted on X.
‘Australians booing Novak after the game is in absolute disgrace,’ added another.
Djokovic had plenty of support in his semi-final clash, but pockets of the crowd booed him when he was forced from centre court by the leg complaint
Former US firebrand John McEnroe was left shocked by the retirement in commentary, saying ‘The crowd can’t be booing him, for god’s sake’
‘Respect for Zverev. Australian crowd should know better,’ fumed yet another.
‘Did you have an idea that he was struggling?’ Former US tennis star and on court interviewer Jim Courier asked.
‘I actually thought it was quite a high-level first set,’ Zverev replied.
‘But I mean like, of course, there are some difficulties and the longer you continue playing then maybe the worse it gets.
‘In the tiebreak maybe he was not moving as well as in the entire first set but I thought we had extremely long rallies, extremely difficult, physical also rallies.
‘In the tiebreak I did see him struggle maybe a bit more. But still, look, of course, I’m happy on one side to be in the final of the Australian Open.’
It has been a turbulent Australian Open campaign for Djokovic.
He arrived in Australia admitting he was still traumatised over being deported in 2021 because of his Covid vaccination status.
He then refused to talk to host broadcaster Channel Nine because of comments made by host Tony Jones during a live cross with Serbian supporters.
