Novak Djokovic on Crowd Booing After US Open 2019 Retirement, “I Am Not Offended”

The defending champion at US Open 2019, Novak Djokovic left his fourth-round match incomplete against Stan Wawrinka as his shoulder injuries woes prevailed during the encounter against the Swiss. With the 23rd seed, Wawrinka was in the lead at 6-4, 7-5, 2-1 (ret.) and the Serbian concluded his 17th Grand Slam title reverie at Flushing Meadows by retiring from the match.

Djokovic’s poor form, it forced him to withdraw from the match and the spectators in the Arthur Ashe Stadium began booing as the Serb left the court after retiring from the fourth round encounter. It was a big match put up on a Sunday night and the crowd wanted to see the entire match between the former US Open champions.

“I am not offended, I don’t pay too much attention,” Novak Djokovic said. “I respect others and I hope others respect me. I understand that the crowd wanted to see the whole match.”

“It is very frustrating, but I am not the first nor the last one to have to retire. I hope I can play for many more years. I hope I’ll be healthy, I like my chances for the rest of the season,” he added. Novak Djokovic is unhappy about leaving his match against Wawrinka unfinished, which eventually halted him from defending his US Open title.

Next, the Serbian World Number one plans to feature at Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, which is an ATP 500 event. This event will be held at Ariake Coliseum in the Japanese capital and it is the same venue where the Tokyo Olympics 2020 will be taking place.

Tokyo’s ATP 500 tournament will get underway towards the end of September and after that, Djokovic will be seen at Shanghai Rolex Masters during the first week of October.

“It was the left shoulder, unfortunately. I congratulate Stan, I don’t want to talk about my injuries. I retired, I told you it’s my left shoulder and that is it. Evaluation is to come. I did a lot of treatment and diagnostics in the last couple of weeks, but I have to do it again. I hope that I’ll be able to play Tokyo,” Djokovic added.