It wasn’t the end that Novak Djokovic would have hoped for. After giving his all, the Serb’s campaign at the 2025 Australian Open came to a premature end after he was forced to retire midway through his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev. The 24-time Grand Slam champion suffered a muscle tear and couldn’t continue after losing the first-set tiebreaker. Subsequently, Djokovic didn’t receive a warm reception from the crowd after pulling out of the encounter, as fans booed him for retiring midway. However, he has silenced his haters with a solid response.

Soon after his withdrawal, fans stormed social media and had various opinions about Djokovic’s injury. Moments ago, Djokovic responded strongly to them as he took to his official Twitter handle and shared his X-ray report, showing the muscle tear. Additionally, he wrote, “Thought I’d leave this here for all the sports injury “experts” out there.”

While many fans suggested that Djokovic’s injury wasn’t as serious as it looked, tennis legend John McEnroe was also hugely critical of the Serb. Djokovic picked up the injury during his match against Carlos Alcaraz, with McEnroe saying, “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine. Don’t be fooled.” As a result, Djokovic gave a fitting response to them by showing the extent of his injury through his report, in which the muscle tear was clearly visible.

After his match against Alcaraz, Djokovic was asked to comment on McEnroe’s opinions about his injury. The Serb revealed, “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.”

Similarly, Alexander Zverev wasn’t happy after the crowd booed Djokovic off the court after his withdrawal. He issued strong advice to the fans at the Australian Open.

Alexander Zverev asks for humility from the crowd

The German star isn’t alien to injuries. Zverev had suffered a career-threatening ankle injury a few seasons back at the French Open. However, he came back stronger to reach the stage that he is now. As a result, Zverev knows what it takes to cope with injuries and advised the local fans not to boo a player down with injuries.

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

Meanwhile, Djokovic’s dream of winning his 25th major title here came to a saddening end with his withdrawal. At 37, he doesn’t have much time left in his career and will look to comeback stronger in the upcoming tournaments. On the other hand, Zverev will have another shot at winning his maiden Grand Slam title and will face Jannik Sinner in the summit clash.