Novak Djokovic Booed By Fans After Retiring From Match With Injury
Novak Djokovic Booed By Fans At Australian Open ... After Injury Withdrawal
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The Australian Open crowd was none too pleased with Novak Djokovic after an injury forced him out of his highly anticipated semifinal matchup against Alexander Zverev ... with spectators booing the hell outta the tennis legend as he walked off the court.
The injury -- a muscle tear that occurred in his quarterfinal victory against Carlos Alcaraz -- became too much for the 37-year-old to manage ... and after dropping the first set 7-6 (5) to the German star, he conceded the rest of the match.
Those in attendance were pissed with the development ... and jeered as Joker gave a thumbs-up gesture.
In a post-match interview on the court ... Zverev called out the fans who joined in on dissing Djokovic -- saying, "Please don't boo a player when he goes out with injury."
"Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given this sport the past 20 years absolutely everything of his life," he added. "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 means he can not continue a tennis match."
In a post on X ... the 24-time grand slam champion congratulated Zverev on the victory -- and said he tried to recover in time but could only go so far.
While it's unknown how long the injury will keep him out ... it marks another setback for the Serbian great. Back at the French Open in June, he suffered a meniscus tear, but came back to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics a month later.