Novak Djokovic was on the end of a shower of boos for retiring from the Australian Open – but his opponent was having none of it.
The 37-year-old was not looking himself as he lost the first set to against second seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-final. On set point the 24-time Grand Slam winner hit a ball straight into the net and went straight to shake his opponent’s hand. It signalled his match was over and coach Andy Murray could only look on.
The Serbian was carrying an knock during his four-set win over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals. He even admitted he was “concerned” by his injury and skipped training before the semi-final. But when the umpire announced that Djokovic was retiring from the match boos and jeers came down from the crowd. Post match, Novak Djokovic said: “I did everything I possibly could do to manage the muscle tear that I had. Towards the end of that first set I just started feeling more and more pain. It was too much to handle for me at the moment.”
In his post-match interview, Zverev had a message for fans that booing is out of order. He said: “Please, guys, don’t boo a player who leaves the court due to injury. I know that everyone paid to be here and hopes to see a great five-set match. But you have to understand that Novak Djokovic has given his all to this sport for 20 years.”
He added: “There is no one I respect more on the tour than Novak. I have always been able to send him a message, call him when things were not going well. He has helped me a lot. Last year in Shanghai, when things were really not going well after the US Open, we talked for hours.”
Djokovic said in his post-match press conference that he and US Open and Wimbledon winner Andy Murray would discuss his next move after his latest injury setback.