Novak Djokovic had was justifiably aggrieved after he left the 2025 Australian Open amid a hail of boos and jeers from the Melbourne crowd.
That’s the verdict of Sky Sports lead commentator Jonathan Overend, who believes the 10-time Australian Open champion was disrespected after he was forced to quit his semi-final match against Alexander Zverev.
Djokovic picked up a hamstring injury in his quarter-final win against Carlos Alcaraz and battled through the opening set against world No 2 Zverev.
When he lost that set, he opted to call time on the match and limp out of the tournament, but that decision was not welcomed by the fans on Rod Laver Arena as they roundly booed the Melbourne Park legend.
Now Overend has given Tennis365 his verdict on the ugly scenes after what may be Djokovic’s final appearance on court where he has dominated for so many years.
“To be booed off the court when you have been a champion there ten times over was a surprise,” begins Overend. “You never like to hear it and I don’t really understand why it happened.
“Whether the fans felt they didn’t receive value for money or not, is a spurious argument. Tennis is a curious sport that can go on for hours and hours, but they saw more in one set than you would get in a lot of other sports between Djokovic and Zverev.
“The whole thing was quite perplexing and I’m sure Novak came away from it all feeling pretty annoyed.”
The debate over who should be hailed as the greatest player of all-time rumbles on, even though Djokovic will end his career with more Grand Slam titles and more weeks as world No 1 than his great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
He also has a winning record against Federer and Nadal in their head-to-head battles to back up his claims to being the greatest male player, but Overend suspects some cynics will always question his claims to that title.
“I have come around to concluding that Djokovic is the greatest player of all-time. It’s impossible to dispute that now,” added Overend.
“If you are disputing that, it’s based on how stylish you thought Federer looked at Centre Court at Wimbledon. That was always the argument in the Federer vs Nadal debate when people said they preferred Federer because they just loved the way he hit his backhand and how amazing it looked.
“You can’t now use that as an argument in his favour and the argument that Rafa is the greatest could be that he was successful on all surfaces and was absolutely dominant at Roland Garros, but you could argue the same for Novak with his dominance at the Australian Open and the fact he leads the head to heads against the other two? Absolutely you can.
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“There is no doubt that from an early age, he has been cast into this role as a pantomime villain.
“Has he brought that on himself at times? I’d say yes, having watched him at close quarters over the years. Some of the smirks, some of the looks he gives on court, they play in that perception.
“Has he wanted to be loved because of the adoration spectators give Federer and Nadal? I think the answer to that question is yes and if I were in his shoes, I’d feel put out by the treatment he gets.
“Come on, what more can he do? Not everyone has the same personality to bring that warmth and that is not a criticism in any way.”
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