{"id":23171,"date":"2025-02-03T02:07:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T02:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=23171"},"modified":"2025-02-03T02:07:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T02:07:39","slug":"himself-after-he-was-booed-off-court-due-to-australian-open-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=23171","title":{"rendered":"himself\u2019 after he was booed off court due to Australian Open withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Novak Djokovic injured his hamstring and was forced to quit his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/29050307\/Novak-Djokovic-Jimmy-Connors.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, (min-width: 769px) 1600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/29050307\/Novak-Djokovic-Jimmy-Connors.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/29050307\/Novak-Djokovic-Jimmy-Connors-600x336.jpg 600w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/29050307\/Novak-Djokovic-Jimmy-Connors-1200x672.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/29050307\/Novak-Djokovic-Jimmy-Connors-768x430.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/29050307\/Novak-Djokovic-Jimmy-Connors-150x84.jpg 150w\" alt=\"Jimmy Connors backs Novak Djokovic for \u2018standing up for himself\u2019 after he was booed off court due to Australian Open withdrawal\" width=\"1280\" height=\"717\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Novak Djokovic, Jimmy Connors (Images via X, NBC)<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Novak Djokovic<\/strong>\u00a0was heavily booed by a section of a disappointed crowd at Rod Laver Arena when he decided to retire after the first set in the Australian Open semifinal against\u00a0<strong>Alexander Zverev<\/strong>. Former ATP player\u00a0<strong>Jimmy Connors<\/strong>\u00a0backed the Serb for always standing up for himself after stirring controversies due to his conduct or stance on certain matters.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic\u2019s vaccination saga is well known among the tennis community. He was detained in Melbourne before he was deported for his unvaccinated status during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QJpCNM6bfIo\" data-id=\"QJpCNM6bfIo\" data-query=\"list=PLZGasR6VH79eoZ5dMJ949ykRBkwSAzFUF\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/QJpCNM6bfIo\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"YouTube video\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/QJpCNM6bfIo\/hqdefault.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Connors, an eight-time Grand Slam singles champion, gave his opinion on Djokovic\u2019s point of view while discussing his latest Australian Open withdrawal. As per Connors, not \u2018everybody can wear the white hat\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic is the most successful man in the history of Grand Slam events, lifting 24 major titles. Apart from this record, he has achieved numerous other feats in his two-decade-long career. According to Connors, despite giving his all to the sport, Djokovic would still be criticized.<\/p>\n<p>Critics questioned the severity of the injury and even thought that the 10-time Australian Open champion was acting when he limped off the court during the quarterfinal against\u00a0<strong>Carlos Alcaraz<\/strong>. After\u00a0withdrawing from the semifinal, Djokovic shared the result of his\u00a0MRI scan on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Novak Djokovic\u00a0is in the twilight of his career, and his age has started to affect his performance. In spite of doing his all to save himself from succumbing to injuries, they are now ruining his chances in the tournaments that matter to him the most.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-1200x675.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2.jpg 1280w\" alt=\"Novak Djokovic (11)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-src=\"https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-1200x675.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/media.firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/28023400\/Novak-Djokovic-11-2.jpg 1280w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption>Novak Djokovic (Image via X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He called off his quarterfinal match at the 2024 French Open and then the hamstring muscle tear forced him to retire mid-match in the\u00a0Australian Open semifinal. According to Jimmy Connors, age tires out the players mentally and physically and it takes a lot of time to recover after a long match.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic had a tough draw at the Melbourne Slam. He had to play Carlos Alcaraz and\u00a0Alexander Zverev, and had he progressed to the final, he had to face World No.1 and eventual champion\u00a0<strong>Jannik Sinner<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Connors stated that Djokovic was handed a tough draw because of his ranking. Djokovic, currently at No.6, when the rankings were updated on Monday, entered the Australian Open as a World No.7.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novak Djokovic injured his hamstring and was forced to quit his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic, Jimmy Connors (Images via X,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>himself\u2019 after he was booed off court due to Australian Open withdrawal - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=23171\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"himself\u2019 after he was booed off court due to Australian Open withdrawal - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Novak Djokovic injured his hamstring and was forced to quit his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open. 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