MELBOURNE: John McEnroe and John Millman have torched the tennis fans who booed Novak Djokovic for his shock retirement – yet the man himself says he kind of understands.
United States icon McEnroe – not the shy and retiring type – teed off at those who jeered Djokovic for choosing to pull the pin after losing the first set of his Australian Open semi-final.
Djokovic, regarded as the greatest men's player of all time, said the muscle tear in his leg would have only got worse if he had tried to carry on at Rod Laver Arena on Friday.
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"He's won this (Australian Open) 10 times. I mean, come on. I mean, clearly something was up," McEnroe said on Nine.
"The guy is a battler. I mean, him and Rafa (Nadal) have dug deeper than any two players I have seen. So to do that because he decided that he couldn't go on after what he's done here I thought was absolutely ludicrous, honestly.
"That was almost as depressing as seeing the end of the match."
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Djokovic suffered the injury in the quarter-final but was still too good for Carlos Alcaraz.
Retired Australian star John Millman said Melbourne Park had a problem with some of its patrons.
"The crowds have been questioned a lot and rightly so. I mean, I just think it's a bit of a shambles," Millman said on Nine.
"Some of the behaviour has crossed the line and that one takes the cake for me. I mean, this is a guy who's won it 10 times.
"Have some respect. He's one of the all-time greats, if not the greatest to play. He's definitely the greatest to play on this court.
"I don't care how much you've spent on your ticket – have some respect."
Djokovic has had ridiculous, unprecedented success in Melbourne but also a lot of turbulence.
He was deported from Australia during the pandemic and refused an on court interview with Jim Courier during this year's tournament.
He was asked by Serbian media about the booing.
Novak Djokovic. AP
"I don't know what to tell you. But, people came here, paid for the tickets and expected a battle, and they didn't get it," Djokovic said.
"If you look at it that way, I understand. At least I'm trying to understand them. I don't know if they understand me or wish to understand me. I know what's in my body, what I feel, how much I gave of myself to this tournament in the past 20 plus years. Now I'll stop so I don't continue down the wrong path."