"You cannot boo Novak Djokovic, it's all b******p" - Bernard Tomic slams Australian Open crowd over poor treatment of Serb

The crowd at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne recently meted out boos to Novak Djokovic after he retired midway through his semifinal outing against Alexander Zverev at the 2025 Australian Open. Aussie tennis wild child Bernard Tomic believes the local audience was out there to provoke the Serb to have their one minute of fame.

Djokovic's physical conditioning was far from its best during his Australian Open campaign. The 24-time Major winner required a medical time-out for his right knee during his last-eight victory against Carlos Alcaraz. And while the 37-year-old was able to complete a scintillating four-set win over the Spaniard, his knee eventually gave out against Zverev in the semifinals as he threw in the towel while trailing 6-7(5).

Following his retirement, the 10-time Australian Open champion received jeers from a small section of the audience at the Rod Laver Arena. In that context, Bernard Tomic recently put the Aussie crowd on blast in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda. The former World No. 17 claimed that a few fans tend to get drunk and give grief to the players for publicity, which is something that he admittedly dislikes.

Tomic also stated that he could see the same "b******p" pattern during the Australian Open final between Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev.

"Yeah, I saw this. I don't like this, this is not cool. You cannot boo a person like this. This is the crowd getting drunk there, and you know, some people just come there to provoke other people and cause the situation and stuff," Bernard Tomic told Sportskeeda. "I think I was watching the final as well of the Grand Slam, Zverev and Sinner, people just literally come to make a problem to other players, so they can get on the news."

"It's all b******p, I think. It's not nice from the public, you know. You cannot boo someone like Novak. We understand if the players are doing something wrong, okay. But a player doesn't do something wrong, and the crowd is booing? One person starts, two person starts, and then people [start booing], yeah, this is not cool, you know?"

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"To all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, good night!" - When Novak Djokovic took down disrespectful fans that booed him at Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic didn't tolerate Wimbledon crowd's disrespect last year | Image Source: Getty

The 2025 Australian Open incident was not the first time that Novak Djokovic has been booed by fans at a Grand Slam tournament. The former World No. 1 was treated in similar fashion during his fourth-round win over Holger Rune at last year's Wimbledon.

The Serb didn't take the SW19 crowd's treatment of him sitting down though, choosing to call them out during his post-match interview. The seven-time Wimbledon champion also asserted that the unruly fans couldn't possibly get to him as he has survived 'far more hostile environments' in the past.

“To all the fans that have had respect and stayed here tonight, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I appreciate it," Novak Djokovic said during his post-match interview on the Center Court. "And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player – in this case, me – have a goooood night. A very good night...I played in much more hostile environments, trust me – you guys can’t touch me."

After picking up a right hamstring tear at the end of his Melbourne run, Novak Djokovic was seen limping following his first-round exit at the Qatar Open earlier this month. It is currently unclear whether he will be fit enough to play at the Sunshine Double this month.