Some felt that Novak Djokovic, who cruised to a win over Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open semifinal in four sets after the latter succumbed to cramps, was being disrespectful to his opponent by pumping his fist demonstrably while the Spaniard was struggling to tough out the injury during the match on Friday. Well, former US Open champion Andy Roddick disagreed wholeheartedly with that assessment and called out the false narrative on Twitter a day after the match.
“This controversy around Novak pumping his fists to stay focused and engaged when Carlos was struggling is a nothing burger. He was there to win a match. Did nothing to show up his opponent. Move on.”
The media asked Alcaraz about Djokovic's celebratory fist pumps after the French Open semifinal. Alcaraz responded in impressive fashion, as he said that he didn't “blame Djokovic” for doing that, noting that it helps to “maintain intensity.”
Of course, whether or not he truly believes that- he likely does- any answer that sounded remotely close to criticism of Djokovic would have resulted in the Spaniard being labeled as salty or a sore loser.
Djokovic has often had the fans rooting against him, not for him, during his illustrious career. Whether that's fair or not is another discussion.
What's certainly not fair to Djokovic- and Alcaraz- is to create controversy where there is not. Kudos to Roddick, four-time Grand Slam finalist, for calling it out. Hopefully, this “controversy” can be put to rest and not be a focus during the finals.
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