The Melbourne, Austrailia, crowd 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 semifinal match after tearing a muscle in his left leg.
The withdrawal sent Alexander Zverev to Sunday’s final against Jannick Sinner, and it left the crowd disappointed.
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Serbia’s Novak Djokovic packs his bags after retiring from his men’s singles semi-final match against Germany’s Alexander Zverev on day 13 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Jan. 24, 2025. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)
After he conceded the match to Zverev, who won the set, fans booed him as he walked off toward 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 goes out with injury. I know that everybody paid for tickets and everybody wants to see a great five-set match, but you gotta understand Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given this sport for the past 20 years absolutely everything of his life,” Zverev said in his on-court interview.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia exits after his match against Alexander Zverev of Germany in the semifinals of the men’s singles at the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park. (Mike Frey-Imagn Images)
“He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear. He has won this tournament with a hamstring tear. If he can’t continue a tennis match, it really means he can’t continue a tennis match. So, please be respectful.”
John McEnroe added on the call, “They can’t possibly be booing him. Please! He’s won this 10 times, for god’s sakes. Unreal…
“I mean, clearly something was up. The guy is a battler. I mean, him and Rafa [Nadal] have dug deeper than any two players I have seen. So to do that because he decided that he couldn’t go on after what he’s done here I thought was absolutely ludicrous, honestly. That was almost as depressing as seeing the end of the match.”
Djokovic suffered the injury during his five-set classic with Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinal, but he said the pain was getting “worse and worse.”
“Towards the end of that first set, I just started feeling more and more pain, and it was too much to handle for me at the moment. So, yeah, unfortunate ending, but I tried,” Djokovic said.
“I knew even if I won the first set, it was going to be a huge 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 had surgery a couple of days later and immediately reached the final at the following major, Wimbledon, then won a gold medal for Serbia at the Paris Olympics.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts on a point against Germany’s Alexander Zverev during their men’s singles semi-final match on day 13 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Jan. 24, 2025. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)
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This will be Zverev’s first final at the Australian Open and the third final of his career. He also made last year’s French Open final as well as the 2020 U.S. Open.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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