Djoker pulls out of pack
New delhi: Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev with a muscle tear. Hang on, that is not the news, retiring against Zverev, it is his future. With Aussie fans booing the GOAT on Friday, the scenes became a bit ugly. In fact, Zverev was apologetic when he spoke courtside and told the crowd they were being nasty and uncharitable to a player who has brought tennis fans around the globe joy for over two decades.
The bigger surprise is if Novak will ever return to Australia. He has won 10 Grand Slam titles at the Rod Laver arena but the crowds have become loutish, arrogant. There is no reason why they hate the Serbian superstar. For someone who has won 24 Grand Slam titles, he has been taunted from 2023 onwards. That year, Novak won despite medical issues. This time, he suffered an injury against Carlos Alcaraz when he won in four sets, a few days ago. Novak did not turn up for practice on Thursday. He was struggling to serve. People who follow the sport realised this is not the way Novak serves. His ball toss was incorrect. Clearly, he was in pain and unable to go through the motions. Finally, when he threw in the towel, reality sunk in. Was this the last appearance he made in Melbourne? “Yes, I did everything possible I could to manage the muscle tear that I had. And yes, mediations and I guess the strap and the physios worked to some extent today,” said Novak with the score at 7-6(7/5).
Novak had fought hard and explained more in detail. “Towards the end of the first set I started feeling more pain and it was too much for me to handle. But I tried…” he said, almost apologetically.
It was too early to ask Novak if he would return or retire. He has been a warrior, a soldier who has battled. Right now, he is enjoying his tennis in the company of coach Andy Murray. So, to think he will retire from tennis would be a pessimistic thought. As it is, the tennis world has been ravaged by three greats quitting in recent years -- Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. Novak is the alpha male and does not give up easily. Then again, the injuries which Federer, Murray and Nadal had were different.
Federer had multiple knee injuries and had to say goodbye in 2022. Murray had played with a metal hip after replacement. Nadal had faced all kinds of pain and trauma. The more he attempted to repair, rest and heal his body, the worse it became. It was at the same Australian Open in 2023, Nadal left in pain. He took the whole year off and came back in 2024. Again, the return was even more painful. One injury or the other kept cropping up and he retired at the Davis Cup finals in 2024.
With Novak, he has been a fighter to the core. He is 37 but trains hard. The kind of tennis he produced against Alcaraz was magical, out of the world. Novak did get injured in that match but few knew it was so serious. Again, Novak does not like to play up his own injuries. When he got injured at the French Open and returned at Wimbledon in 2024, it was so fast. And then he went on to win gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics, he had attained nirvana of sorts.
Novak has spoken today he is in pain. But what is even more damaging than the pain is the Aussie crowd, ugly and abusive. They have been unkind to a legend, perhaps more due to lager and turning louts. Such disrespect is not needed for a champion who has only entertained the audience.
