"I didn't like it": Andy Roddick left feeling 'icky' after Novak Djokovic receiving boos from Australian Open crowd

Former world number one Andy Roddick has stated that seeing Serbia’s Novak Djokovic leave the court in the Australian Open amidst boos from the crowd left him feel ‘icky’. The 37-year-old is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic recently participated in the Australian Open, where he was forced to retire from the semifinal because of an injury against the world number two Alexander Zverev. After it was announced that the former world number one would not be able to continue, certain members sitting in the crowd booed and made their feelings felt.

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Former world number one Roddick was recently quoted in a report where he stated that he did not like seeing one of the greatest players being booed by the crowd. The one-time Grand Slam winner stated that the whole episode made him feel ‘icky’.

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“I didn't like it. Listen, you can disagree with someone, it’s just booing someone when they’re going off, even if you don’t know if they’re really hurt, you don’t boo,” he said. “If you suspect they’re not hurt, there's a chance that they’re telling the truth, you don’t boo. I just hated the fact that he’s leaving the court to boos and I understand he likes the friction, he invites the friction in, he thrives off of in it and at times has created controversy because he operates well in that space. I get all that but at a certain point if you’re a tennis fan respect has to win out. I’m not telling you to cheer for someone that you don’t want to cheer for, I’m saying there’s a million miles between not being a an out-and-out fan of someone and also booing someone who’s one of the all time greats. You don’t know if you’re going to see them again. I didn’t like that, it made me feel icky on the inside. I didn’t like that.”

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