{"id":6060,"date":"2026-09-02T01:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T01:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/?p=6060"},"modified":"2026-09-02T01:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T01:42:16","slug":"roddick-criticises-fans-calling-for-djokovic-to-retire-after-us-open-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/roddick-criticises-fans-calling-for-djokovic-to-retire-after-us-open-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"Roddick criticises fans calling for Djokovic to retire after US Open exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former world number one Andy Roddick criticised fans calling for Novak Djokovic to retire following the Serbian&#8217;s shock first-round exit from the 2026 US Open.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic suffered his earliest Grand Slam defeat in 20 years after losing 6(5)-7, 7-5, 6-4, 2-6, 1-6 to world number 49 Mariano Navone at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The 39-year-old struggled physically during the latter stages of the four-hour, 36-minute contest, receiving treatment while also dealing with vomiting, cramps and back and shoulder problems.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xozjwOHDq9k?si=5_ZN3bchgCuGPY75\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Djokovic later admitted that similar issues have affected him throughout the season, saying his body began to &#8220;collapse&#8221; as the match progressed.<\/p>\n<p>His condition and early US Open exit inevitably raised further questions about the future of the 24-time Grand Slam champion, but Roddick believes only Djokovic should decide when his career comes to an end.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on his Served podcast, the 2003 US Open champion said Djokovic&#8217;s defeat was not down to a lack of determination, but rather his body being unable to continue.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;His body wasn&#8217;t physically able to go anymore,&#8221; Roddick said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t a matter of willpower, it wasn&#8217;t a matter of pushing through, it wasn&#8217;t a matter of pacing himself or picking the right moment. His body simply gave out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Roddick acknowledged that speculation over Djokovic&#8217;s future is understandable each time he leaves a Grand Slam, particularly following the emotional scenes during his defeat to Navone.<\/p>\n<p>However, the American drew a clear distinction between wondering whether Djokovic has played his final major and calling for him to retire.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think there&#8217;s a difference between wondering if it&#8217;ll be his last time, and being a d****** on Twitter saying, &#8216;he should retire.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Shut up. He can make that decision. He&#8217;s in on his own entry. He&#8217;s made the semis more often than not recently. We don&#8217;t get a say in it. Everyone chooses their own path,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QeKj1EfvONk?si=bkvojcZBM9_LQJqO\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former world number one Andy Roddick criticised fans calling for Novak Djokovic to retire following the Serbian&#8217;s shock first-round exit from the 2026 US Open. Djokovic suffered his earliest Grand Slam defeat in 20 years after losing 6(5)-7, 7-5, 6-4, 2-6, 1-6 to world number 49 Mariano Navone at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday. The &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/roddick-criticises-fans-calling-for-djokovic-to-retire-after-us-open-exit\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Roddick criticises fans calling for Djokovic to retire after US Open exit<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[264,364],"class_list":["post-6060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","category-top-stories","tag-tennis-en","tag-us-open"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6060"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6068,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6060\/revisions\/6068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}