Novak Djokovic retires hurt from Australian Open semi-final after losing first set to Alexander Zverev
Ten-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic has been booed off the court by some sections of Rod Laver Arena after sensationally retiring hurt from his semi-final against Alexander Zverev on Friday after losing the first set.
The Serb suffered an injury to his groin area in his quarter-final against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and took to the court with both dark tape and a white bandage enveloping his upper thigh.
Despite the ailment, he looked close to his best across 81 minutes in a taxing first set, won narrowly by the German in a tie-break 7-5. But after missing a volley to hand his opponent Zverev the set, the Serb walked over to the other side of the court and embraced the second seed.
It triggered boos from some sections of the crowd, who had paid hundreds of dollars for tickets.
Zverev criticised those who booed Djokovic in his on-court interview after the match. “The very first thing I want to say is, please guys don’t boo a player when he goes out with injury,” he said, prompting applause from a majority of the crowd.
“I know that everybody paid for for tickets and everybody wants to see, hopefully, a great five-set match and everything. But you’ve got to understand, Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given this sport for the past 20 years absolutely everything of his life.”
It was a jarring end to another remarkable tournament for Djokovic, who knocked out the highly-fancied third seed Alcaraz in the previous round. Earlier in the tournament, he refused to do an on-court interview after he felt he was disrespected by
Channel Nine reporter Tony Jones
in a television cross.
More to follow.