The 37-year-old Djokovic stopped his match against Alexander Zverev after dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker on Friday. After shaking hands with Zverev and the chair umpire, Djokovic gathered his equipment and started walking toward the locker room.
Some of the spectators in Rod Laver Arena jeered him. Djokovic put both of his thumbs up before leaving.
During his on-court interview, Zverev chastised those who booed Djokovic.
“I know that everybody paid for tickets and everybody wants to see hopefully a great five-set match,” Zverev said. “But you’ve got to understand — Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given this sport, for the past 20 years, absolutely everything of his life.”
Read More: Novak Djokovic says injury felt “worse and worse” during AO semifinal against Zverev
Djokovic had been hurt late in the first set of his previous match, a four-set victory against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
Djokovic finished that match with tape on his upper left leg and had a similar wrap at the start against Zverev.
“I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had,” Djokovic said at his news conference Friday.
“Towards the end of that first set, I just started feeling more and more pain,” he said. “It was too much, I guess, to handle for me at the moment. Unfortunate ending, but I tried.”
