Novak Djokovic responds to John McEnroe after American's controversial comments on Australian Open injury

Novak Djokovic entered the semifinal of the 2025 Australian Open with an unknown injury in his left leg, which was later revealed to be a hamstring injury. The Serb sustained the injury during his quarterfinal match against Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday.

The American legend, John McEnroe gave his take on Djokovic’s medical timeout during the quarterfinal, while he was commentating on the match.

"This isn't the first time we've seen this routine. Don't be fooled."

Following his semifinal game against Alexander Zverev on Friday, Novak Djokovic addressed McEnroe's comments during the post-match interview and said:

“To be honest, I haven’t seen these comments, so I can’t say more. What I can say is that it’s always easier to judge and criticise than to understand. It’s a lesson I’ve learned in life,” Djokovic said.

The 10-time Australian Open champion retired due to the aggravation of the injury after the first set of the semifinals. The first set lasted 80 minutes, comprising long physical rallies in the hot sun of Melbourne, which eventually led to Djokovic having to forcefully retire. The Serbian shared in the post-match conference that he could not go further for more than 3-4 sets after losing the first one.

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Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev react to crowd booing after Serbian’s walkover

Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic shaking hands after Djokovic retired due to a hamstring injury at the semifinal of the 2025 Australian Open - Source: Getty

After a hard-fought first set, Novak Djokovic decided to retire from the match, enabling Zverev to reach his maiden Australian Open final. This walkover was met with booing from the crowd for Djokovic. Commenting on the crowd's behavior after his match, the 37-year-old said:

“I don’t know what to say. People have come, they paid for the tickets expecting a great match and a big fight, which they didn’t get. From that perspective, I can understand. I am doing my best to understand them, but I am not sure whether they understand me or if they even want to understand me.”

"I know how my body works, what I feel, and I know how much I’ve given to this tournament in the past 20-plus years. I will stop here (speaking), so that I don’t continue in the wrong direction,” Djokovic added.

Meanwhile, World No. 2 Alexander Zverev also showed support for the Serbian legend during his on-court interview after the match, saying:

“The very first thing, I want to say is please guys don’t boo a player when he goes out with injury. I know everybody paid for tickets and everybody wants to see hopefully great five set match and everything but you got to understand that Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given the sport for the past 20 years absolute everything of his life,” Zverev said.

The German showed his utmost respect and admiration for the 24-time Grand Slam winner, adding:

“He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear (2021 Australian Open), he has won this tournament with a hamstring tear (2023 Australian Open), if he cannot continue a tennis match, it really means that he cannot continue a tennis match. So, please be respectful and show some love for Novak as well.”

Alexander Zverev will play Jannik Sinner in the final on Sunday, January 26. The German leads their head-to-head record 4-2, and this is their first meeting ever at the Australian Open. Zverev will look for his maiden Grand Slam title, while the Italian will look to defend his Australian Major crown.