(Video) Novak Djokovic gives ‘thumbs up’ to the booing crowd after retiring from his Australian Open semifinals
Novak Djokovic succumbed to injury and gave a walkover to Alexander Zverev after playing the first set in the Australian Open semifinal.
Follow Us
Novak Djokovic (Image via Screengrab/X)
Novak Djokovic was hoping to get closer to his historic 25th Grand Slam title, but his plan fell into pieces when a muscle tear hampered him from continuing his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev on Friday (January 24).
When Zverev won the tie-break, and eventually the first set, Djokovic approached the net and shook hands with the German, giving him the walkover, which made Sascha an Australian Open finalist for the first time.
Djokovic then packed up and was leaving the court when a section of the crowd started to boo him. In response, the 24-time Grand Slam champion only gave a thumbs-up to them, before walking off the court.
Watch the video here:
Novak Djokovic says goodbye to Rod Laver Arena after retiring from the semifinal against Zverev at Australian Open.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 24, 2025
Some of the crowd was booing him.
Novak puts his thumbs up.
pic.twitter.com/Cc17GT82fb
Djokovic was bidding to win his 11th Australian Open, last winning the title in 2023. Zverev, on the other hand, is now waiting for the winner of the semifinal match between World No.1 Jannik Sinner and 21st seed Ben Shelton. The World No.2 is 4-2 against the Italian, but lost their last encounter, and is 1-0 against the American.
Novak Djokovic reveals if he will work with Andy Murray after the Australian Open
Novak Djokovic, while announcing that he added Andy Murray to his team, had said that he would be working with the Scot at least till the Australian Open. Now that he is out of the tournament, he was asked in the press conference whether he and Murray would extend their partnership.
I don’t know. We both were disappointed with what just happened, so we didn’t talk about the future steps. We are so fresh off the court. I’ll definitely have a chat with Andy and thank him for being here with me.
Novak Djokovic said
Murray retired as a professional player at the 2024 Paris Olympis and Djokovic added him to his entourage in November last year following his split with Croatian coach Goran Ivanisevic in March of the same year.
I’ll give him my feedback, which is, of course, positive, and see how he feels, and we take the next step. We are still hot-headed and disappointed, so it’s hard to switch the page and start talking about what the next steps are.
Novak Djokovic added
Before the shocking withdrawal from the Australian Open semifinal, Djokovic was struggling to play during his quarterfinal clash with Carlos Alcaraz and took a medical timeout but was slammed for taking it. He even called off his practice session before the semifinal clash.
Stay Updated!
Gouri Das
(4753 Articles Published)