Australian Open crowd branded 'ugly' for Novak Djokovic treatment after withdrawing from semi-final
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Former tennis stars Justine Henine and Barbara Schett have hit out at the 'ugly' and 'horrible' reaction Novak Djokovic received from the Rod Laver Arena crowd after his withdrawal from the tournament.
Djokovic had indicated earlier this week that he was suffering with an injury at the Australian Open that threatened his chances of winning.
He managed to fight throuh the pain to record an incredible win over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-final.
But it proved too much for Djokovic against Alexander Zverev as the 10-time Australian Open champion was forced to retire due to injury.
Novak Djokovic was forced to retire due to injury
REUTERS
Some fans inside Rod Laver Arena were not happy with Djokovic's retirement and booed the Serbian as he made his way off the court.
The reaction left former world No 1 Henin shocked and appalled, especially given Djokovic's achievements Down Under.
"Djokovic has lived in [his] best moments here but also a detention three years ago," she said.
"Today, it was an ugly moment, in my opinion. We can't accept that for a player who gave so much today, but also in the history of this sport.
"We understand that people paid for this game, but we need to have nuance. Djokovic has very rarely abandoned a Grand Slam. He is 38 years old, he still comes here to give his best.
"It's not logical with the champion he is. He was right to react, it was ironic.
"He belongs to the part of players who don't shut up in front of this behaviour. He's right."
Schett was equally horrified by the treatment Djokovic received from some fans inside the arena.
Novak Djokovic was booed after retiring
REUTERS
"It was horrible, we were shocked, Laura and myself, when the crowd started booing," Schett told Eurosport.
"You never know in tennis, in sports, anything can happen. You can get injured, and clearly, he was that injured he couldn't continue.
"Yes, the tickets are expensive, but again, that's sports. It's not like you buy a ticket for a movie and you know this is going on for two hours and you're going to be there from start to finish.
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"No, you could be there [at tennis] for an hour and a half only, but you could also be there for five hours and that's the beauty about tennis, because you never know what happens."
Djokovic revealed he went as far as his body would allow him too before having to make the decision to retire.
“I did everything I possibly can to manage the muscle tear that I had," he said.
“Medications, the strap and the physio work helped to some extent today. But towards the end of that first set I just started feeling more and more pain.”
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