Novak Djokovic certainly didn’t bow out from the Australian Open the way he would have liked, having retired hurt from his semi-final with Alexander Zverev.
Zverev labelled Djokovic the greatest player right now, with the Serbian having certainly been showing signs of his class in Melbourne this month.
Boris Becker said Zverev needed to set the pace against Djokovic, and that is exactly what he did by winning the first set 7-6 (7-5).
But that is when former ATP number one Djokovic decided to call time on their Australian Open semi-final, having been suffering from an upper left leg injury.
The match on Rod Laver Arena had been going on for one hour and 27 minutes when the 10-time champion brought proceedings to an end against Zverev.
Australian Open fans slammed for booing Novak Djokovic after his loss to Alexander Zverev
Audible boos rang around the stadium given that decision, with the crowd having undoubtedly wanted to see much more action.
But such boos have drawn huge criticism from other fans, one of which said on X: “Absolute disgrace, booing a man who won 24 Grand Slam titles who has an injury, a fellow human being who is hurt. Shameful lack of humanity on display. Get well soon, Novak. Thank you for allowing us to witness such greatness for so long. Quest for 25 will continue when you heal and I’m rooting for ya.”
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A second fan commented: “This was unbelievably poor taste from the crowd tbh. 10-time champ who probably went on court just for the crowd to watch a bit of him. Hopefully not for the last time. Don’t boo injured athletes. Doesn’t make sense, folks.”
A third angry fan noted: “Can’t watch this. Disrespectful to boo players. And especially a champ like Djokovic. Do better Melbourne. Do better.”
And a fourth concurred: “I would by no means call myself a Novak fan but I respect the hell out of him. He’s a true warrior. Booing him in this situation is totally uncalled for.”
Further anger arrived as other fans said: “Worst crowd ever. The most-winner player in that venue and they show no respect at all” and “The crowd is so unkind. Just because they paid tickets doesn’t mean a player should suffer. Disgusting.”
Plenty of other tennis fans jumped to the defence of Djokovic, even those who don’t closely follow the Serbian.
“Rightly not the way you should see off a legend especially when he retires,” another said. “Man has conquered AO like no one has and there has to be some respect towards him.”
Even former Australian player John Millman turned against his own crowd for their actions, saying: “Novak getting booed off is a disgrace. Classless.”
Novak Djokovic didn’t deserve Australian Open boos after semi-final loss
At 37, it remains to be seen if Djokovic will take on another Australian Open in his career, particularly given his injury record of late.
But one certainty is that the veteran deserves a huge amount of respect for his career achievements so far.
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And that respect simply wasn’t on show from a select group of fans at Rod Laver Arena, who should have undoubtedly been on their feet for the player applauding as opposed to booing.
Djokovic has, however, been through it all in his career, with such criticism perhaps only going to motivate him to come back to Melbourne and win.
His 24 Grand Slam titles are more than any other man, as are his 10 Australian Open tiles, with such an honours list speaking volumes.
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