Insufferable Australian Tennis Fans Boo Novak Djokovic For Retiring From Semis Due To Injury

Novak Djokovic had to surrender his semifinal match to Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open due to an injury, and fans were not pleased.

The Serbian tennis legend was not able to endure more than one set against Zverev (ranked No. 2 in the world), which he lost 6(5)-7(7). Evidently, Djokovic suffered a muscle tear in his left leg during his quarterfinal match against Carlos Alcaraz, and that became too much for him to overcome against Zverev.

So after an 81-minute first set which he almost won, Djokovic had to leave the court and put the quest for his record 25th Grand Slam title on an abrupt hold. As he left the court, he was showered with applause, but also a healthy dose of boos.

Yes, that’s right. Australian tennis fans were angered by the fact that a 37-year-old tennis legend had to retire in the middle of his match because his muscle tear became too much to handle. Mind you, exactly zero of the fans who booed Djokovic would be able to jog on a muscle tear, let alone play an 81-minute set against the second-best player in the world. Plus, if Djokovic - one of the fiercest competitors in any sport ever - says the injury is too bad to play through, you know it's bad.

Thankfully, Zverev told the crowd to get some perspective in his post-match interview.

"You gotta understand, Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given the sport absolutely everything for the last 20 years in his life," he said. "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 means that he cannot continue a tennis match. Please be respectful and show some love to Novak as well."

I think respecting Djokovic is impossible for some of these Aussies. Remember, when Djokovic got deported from Australia in 2022 for not being vaccinated, many fans cheered at that outcome. Moreover, at last year’s tournament (two years after his deportation), Djokovic was back in this tournament when a fan yelled at him to get vaccinated. 

Clearly, these fans cannot be pleased. At one point, they despised a legend who had the gall to not bow down to vaccine tyranny. Now, they hate him because he didn’t push through a grueling injury long enough.

Some people are hard to figure out.