John McEnroe REACTS To Fans HATING Novak Djokovic..

From John McEnroe being baffled by the absurd hate the player's receiving, to him considering Novak Djokovic to be the GOAT, here's how he called out the French Open crowd over their treatment of the Serb. And needless to say, he sided with Novak. The 64-year-old seasoned analyst can't take it anymore. He thinks the hate Djokovic gets is just weird. And honestly, he's got a point. Because during the Serb's third-round match against Davidovic Fekina, the French crowd was so hostile, booing and jeering at him throughout. But it got much worse when, while Fekina left the court for a bathroom break, Djokovic took a medical time-out. Well, all hell broke loose when the Serb was getting a massage. The crowd was furious. And McEnroe thought this reaction was unacceptable. He thought how the people reacted to Novak's medical time-out was absurd. He said, Why do they boo? Everyone does it. It's allowed to work and rub his legs. But the French crowd wasn't convinced. They kept the loud-as-hell boos coming. And I know Novak must have appreciated McEnroe's support from the commentary box. But we all know he isn't the kind of guy who needs others to defend him. He can deal with the haters all by himself. You didn't think he was sitting with his head down while the crowd poured their anger on him, did you? Good. Because he didn't. In fact, if anything, he infuriated them even more with his gestures. Yep. As soon as the crowd started making noise, Djokovic started waving his hands up in the air as if to say, keep it coming, guys. And is this really all you've got? The French audience took this as a challenge almost, and turned up their volume. But this didn't faze Novak either. He just started clapping to show how unbothered he was. Now some people might find that reaction questionable. But John McEnroe stands by it. When the serve was firing up the audience more and more, the former tennis legend completely understood Djokovic's response. Because he thought there was nothing to get upset about in the first place. Especially when the other guy was not even on the court. And it wasn't just him who thought this. The 36-year-old also called the spectators disrespectful after the match. He said there are always people in the crowd that love to boo every single thing you do, which is something he doesn't understand. But then again, it isn't that Djokovic doesn't exert some of his unbothered energy, even when he is, let's face it, a little bit bothered. And so, he didn't ask the crowds to behave the next time he was in the court. Instead, he said they can do whatever they want. It started to sound a lot like Djokovic versus the French, hasn't it? Well, there's history. And not just at the French Open. Djokovic has quite a lot of boos in the entire tennis verse. It's just that in France, his welcomes are especially cold. And when he takes a medical time out there, the crowd reaction shouldn't really surprise anyone. See, the Serbian star has always had a notorious reputation. Throughout his career, he's been accused of using timeouts, bathroom breaks, and even injuries as excuses to distract his opponents from their game. Even this time, when he was being screamed at during his break, John McEnroe recalled how this is something Djokovic has had to deal with his entire career. And I hear you, John. But let's be fair, the evidence against him is pretty hard to ignore. Even greats like Andy Murray have called the Serb out for these distraction tactics. So yeah, that's why the crowd at the French Open was so mad at the sight of him getting a massage. And then, of course, there's another reason France and Djokovic don't mix. They have other favorites out there in Paris. Yep, the French Open only welcomes two players with open arms, Nadal and Federer. And Djokovic, as you might have noticed, isn't one of them. What's even worse for the Serb, though, is that he's seen as the sort of villain who put an end to the Federer-Nadal golden era. So now that Roger has said goodbye to tennis for good, and Rafa, the French Open's absolute favorite, couldn't play because of injury, there's no wonder the crowds weren't thrilled to see just Djokovic on the court, collecting points to be the GOAT, while the other two were nowhere to be seen. Oh, and he's competing to break the record of the most Grand Slam wins, no less. The record that was held by Rafa. Or it was the record the Spaniard held because, spoiler alert, Novak claimed the 2023 French Open title and broke the record. He also recovered his place at the top of the charts. He's once again the world's number one. Now he'd reached equal wins as Rafa when he claimed the 2023 Australian Open, with the rivals standing at 22 wins each. And now Djokovic has left the Spaniard behind. That too in the tournament where Rafa has a lot of history and iconic victories. So I'm not saying the crowd's hate was justified, but I am saying that y'all should've seen it coming. That said, blaming this rivalry alone isn't fair. Novak's politics didn't do him any favors either. This wasn't the first time, though. The 36-year-old mixed politics with sport quite a lot. At the 2023 Australian Open, he defended his father for taking pictures with Russian flags. But this time, he made things political himself after his first win at the French Open. He won the match, reached for a camera, and scribbled, Kosovo is at the heart of Serbia on it. This statement is no joke, guys, because it came at a time when the tensions between Kosovo and Serbia were at an all-time high. And of course, it's also a controversial take, which made many fans lose their minds with rage. Some even called for him to be disciplined by strict action. Then obviously, the memories of the World No. 1's anti-vax stance are also still fresh in tennis fans' minds. So yeah, he's a divisive figure, and he's going to stay that way. And at this point, I doubt he cares about the hate, even when he gets it at a semi-final. A semi-final he obviously won at that. Oh yeah, he was booed at the French Open semi-final too, against Carlos Alcaraz. It was a thrilling match, everything was going fine, until Alcaraz started having painful cramps. The match was done at that point, because no matter how much he tried, it became impossible for Carlos to continue. And then well, the match was forfeited, which was both good news and bad news for Novak. Good, because the match was now his, and bad because the crowd didn't like that one bit. They started shouting and jeering at the Serb, who once again gave them a badass response. He said, I just keep winning. He wasn't surprised or upset at the reaction from the fans, because it wasn't the first time, and probably not the last. And he is right. I mean, he does keep winning, despite the hostility. But it's not he's just got haters everywhere he goes, he has support too. Look at Nick Kyrgios, he used to have his beef with the Serb, but admired his terrific game at the 2023 French Open. We have legends like McEnroe, who's impressed by Joker's ability to use the crowd's negativity to fuel his passion to win. And say what you will about him, it's true that Novak has shown incredible consistency, even when he doesn't have much support. Which is probably why the two-time Grand Slam winner, Victoria Azarenka, congratulated him on his French Open victory by saying he has the greatest mental strength of any athlete ever seen. And that's hard to argue with, because even in the French final against Kasper Ruud, Novak displayed unreal confidence and composure, as if he wasn't jeered at the entire tournament. No wonder greats like Rod Laver and Billie Jean King also didn't take too long to congratulate the Serbian superstar on his 23rd Grand Slam win. And Laver was especially impressed by the 36-year-old's mental control too. But the most important message came from Rafael Nadal himself. Yep, while the fans are after each other's heads debating who's best, Rafa's out there congratulating his biggest rival. The Spanish legend advised Joker to celebrate this amazing achievement with family and friends, because 23 is a big number that was impossible to think about, even just a few years back. How wholesome is that? But unfortunately, the tennis world doesn't want it to remain wholesome. The GOAT debate has started. It's on! Djokovic fans, who were upset at the treatment he got at the French Open, are convinced that his win has secured his title as the best the world has ever seen. But his critics think being the greatest ever is about more than just numbers. Not to mention that Novak has now tied with Serena Williams, who also has 23 Grand Slams to her name. He isn't ahead of everyone just yet, but John McEnroe thinks the Serb has what it takes to be the GOAT. He thinks his records won't be broken even 50 years from now. The seven-time major winner says Djokovic's win record is better than everyone else in the game. So who's your GOAT? You decide! Anyway, from him considering Novak Djokovic to be the GOAT, to John McEnroe being baffled by the absurd hate the player's been getting, that was how John McEnroe called out the French Open crowd over their treatment of the Serb.