Novak Djokovic 'gets lucky AGAIN', tennis fans claim, as Alex de Minaur's injury withdrawal means the seven-time Wimbledon champion will not face a top 10 player until the final
- Fans have hit out at Novak Djokovic's 'luck' after he received a bye at Wimbledon
- Alex De Minaur withdrew from their quarter-final match due to an injury
- Djokovic will now face either Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-finals
Tennis fans have taken to social media to question Novak Djokovic's luck after the seven-time Wimbledon champion received a bye to the semi-finals of the men's singles tournament.
At around lunchtime on Wednesday, a devastated Alex de Minaur announced that he would be withdrawing from his quarter-final clash against the Serbian - which was set to take place later on in the day - due to a hip injury.
His withdrawal was made even more agonising with this being the first time in the 25-year-old's career where he has reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
While it was a stroke of ill fortune for De Minaur, it means the seven-time champion, Djokovic, will now advance to face off against the winner of Lorenzo Musetti and Taylor Fritz's quarter-final clash on Court One later today.
But some fans have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to speak out on how fortunate the 37-year-old has been to reach the semi-finals without having to play against the world No 9 - who had beaten the former world No 1, Djokovic, at the United Cup in Australia at the beginning of the year.
Novak Djokovic (pictured) has advanced to the semi-finals of the men's singles at Wimbledon
It came after Alex de Minaur withdrew from their quarter-finals clash with a hip injury
Fans have hit out at Djokovic's 'luck' online, claiming that he will now go on to reach the final
'Djokovic gets lucky yet again with Alex’s withdrawal,' one fan wrote on X. 'And surely is in the final given the potential semi-final competition.'
Fritz, who is seeded No 13 at Wimbledon, and ranks No 12 in the world, has never beaten Djokovic on the ATP Tour, having lost in all nine of their previous meetings.
Musetti, meanwhile, is seeded No 25 and No 25 on the ATP Tour. In his six meetings against Djokovic, he has managed to beat the Serbian superstar once, but has lost their remaining five matches.
Other fans pointed out that several players who were selected in the same side of the draw as Djokovic, have now pulled out due to injury.
'Hubert Hurkacz got injured. Alexander Zverev got injured. De Minaur got injured. In the same tournament. They were seeded to face a certain player,' one fan wrote on X.
Hurkacz withdrew from the competition after he dived for a volley but injured his knee in the process during his second-round match against Arthur Fils. Following his defeat by Fritz, Zverev stated that he had suffered a knee injury during the match.
On his route to the semi-finals, Djokovic has seen off qualifier Vít Kopriva, British wild card Jacob Fearnley, Alexei Popyrin and Holger Rune.
Djokovic hit out at the Centre Court crowd for booing him following his match against Holger Rune
Some fans claimed it was 'insane how many easy runs Djokovic gets' noting that he will now not play a top 10 player until he reaches the final
De Minaur stretched awkwardly in the final point of his last 16 match against Arthur Fils and appeared to sustain the injury
'It’s insane how many easy runs Djokovic gets, this is a grand slam and he won’t play 1 single top 10 player till the final... Ridiculous,' another tennis fan added.
Djokovic also blasted the Wimbledon crowd after his victory against Rune. The world No 1 was booed by some sections of the crowd before turning his on-court interview into a rant about sportsmanship.
While his interviewer had implied that the crowd were just shouting 'Ruuuuune' for his opponent, Djokovic saw things differently.
He said: 'To all the fans that have had respect and stayed here tonight, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I appreciate it,' he began. 'And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player - in this case, me - have a goooooooood night.
'They were. They were [disrespecting me],' he insisted. 'I am not accepting it. No no no. I know they were cheering for Rune but that's an excuse to also boo.
'Listen, I have been on the tour for more than 20 years. I know all the tricks. I know how it works. It's fine, it's fine.
Djokovic hit back at fans who booed him, claiming 'trust me - you guys can't touch me'
'I focus on the respectful people that pay for the ticket and love tennis and appreciate the players and the effort the players put in here.
'I played in much more hostile environments, trust me – you guys can't touch me.'
