John McEnroe strongly criticised the Australian Open crowd for booing Novak Djokovic.
Many of the spectators inside Rod Laver Arena were not happy with the Serbian’s decision to retire from his semi-final with Alexander Zverev.
The match lasted just one set when Novak Djokovic stopped playing following a muscle tear in his upper left leg.
The crowd then let Djokovic know exactly how they felt about his decision to retire from the match when he walked off court, which has since received some backlash.
What did John McEnroe say about the Australian Open crowd booking Novak Djokovic?
There has been plenty of talk about the crowds and some of their reactions to certain players at the 2025 Australian Open.
Djokovic was subject to heckling earlier in the tournament and now the crowd have booed him off the court after his semi-final.
Alexander Zverev warned the crowd about their response to Djokovic during his on-court interview and now John McEnroe has now slammed the audience for how they reacted to an injured player having to finish a match prematurely.
“He has won this 10 times. I mean, come on. The guy – clearly something was up,” McEnroe told ESPN. “The guy is a battler. Him and Rafa have dug deeper than any two players I have ever seen. You name it.
“So to do that because he decided he couldn’t go on after what he has done here I thought was absolutely ludicrous, honestly. That was almost as depressing as the end of the match.”
His co-presenter John Millman added: “The crowds have been questioned a lot and rightly so. I think it’s a bit of a shambles. Some of the behaviour has crossed the line and that one takes the cake for me. This is a guy who has won it 10 times.
“He is one of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest to play. He definitely is the greatest to play on this court. I don’t care how much you have spent on your ticket, have some respect.”
John McEnroe controversial take on Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open injury
The seven-time Grand Slam champion’s comments came just three days after McEnroe questioned the legitimacy of Djokovic’s injury.
During the Djokovic’s quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz, he was struggling with a leg injury in sets one and two.
Despite Djokovic being somewhat hampered by the problem at one stage, McEnroe was not convinced as he controversially remarked on commentary: “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine. Don’t be fooled.”
However, following Djokovic’s retirement against Zverev it seems any question marks over the legitimacy of his problem have now been silenced.
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