Can you beleive choker Joker Dokovich pulled a sicky when defending his slam?

Here's the thing. I completely understand that it was extremely hot. The court temperature was something crazy like 145 degrees Farenheit or something like that due to the heat radiating off of the court. So I'm not surprised that Djokovic pulled out. He pulls out all the time.

The reason why you can't blame the heat and the tournament for not closing the roof is because Roddick was fine! That shows that Roddick has put in the work and is in good enough condition to play and win in those extreme temperatures. If Djokovic wants to consider himself to be in Feds and Nadal's league then he needs to get the fitness and stop pulling out of these huge tournaments.

The heat is dangerous but if Roddick can play in it and Djokovic has to retire then that(and all the other times that Djokovic pulled out) shows that he really needs to work on his conditioning so he can stay with the top players in any weather.

As far as the points go, Djokovic is going to loose a good handful since he won last year but didn't make it past the quarters this year.

As a fellow Aussie, I personally don't know how those european players can even stand up, let alone come and play tennis in the heat we have turned up for them :)

I am not a Djokovic fan at all, not over fussed on Roddick either, but I don't think anyone would just throw away the prize money, the ranking points, and their chance to defend the title just because they MAY have been beaten.

Maybe he got the same bug that Serenas opponent had?

Did you see how many retirements from the game their was yesterday? I think it was 4, thats got to be a record.

PS 40 degrees C = 105 degrees F

PS ... for people bagging out the asker for saying they work and play in the heat - you've got no idea. I played squash for two hours each twice last week at 9pm at night - and the temp was 39 degrees C + both times. At 9pm.

The heat totally stuffs you and you never get used to it. You can learn to tolerate it though, which is what the players should have done.

POINTS - doesn't it just count as if he had lost the game?

They should do what they do in Cricket and send out someone to run and hit for him :) That would change the face of tennis! ;)

Hi.... a lot of people from the US seem to have been reported to that it was 145F (60C) - that is totally incorrect - someone has got there conversion wrong, it was more like 40C (105F)

GRRR! Give Djokovic a break! He is a great tennis player (my favorite)and he would've beat Roddick if the roof was closed or if the temperature was lower. I think he made the right choice retiring from the match. He would've collapsed on the court! Would you risk your health just to win a tennis match? I'm sick of all these people calling him a wimp and a whiner. He was physically tired and he was struggling because of the heat so he retired. It's not a big deal! Give him a break!!

I attended this match,and am completely sympathetic to Novak Djokavic. He started brilliantly,completely outplaying Roddick. But the hot conditions were terrible,and a genuine health risk for the players (and the spectators). The roof should have been closed,and the cooling system turned on full blast. Any player scheduled to play in the day sessions is at a big disadvantage to those playing in the cooler conditions at night.

Andy Roddick handled the heat well,but the defending champion deserved a better deal from the Organisers of the event

Maurice

Djo would have won. Well I'm assuming last year had no heat, and that all other players grew up in Australia and spent many months playing in the heat before the start of the Australian Open this yr.

If not for the heat, that wasn't in Australia for last year's Open, Djokovic would have won. Man this heat just showed up all of a sudden in Australia and affected him. I'm really surprised Roddick didn't retire too.

I didn't watch that match but, being a Melburnian myself, I find it interesting that anyone could criticise any player for pulling out due to heat. This city is at the beginning of a forecasted heatwave at the moment - today it was 38 deg, yesterday it was nearly that and it's to be 40+ for the next few days (for any Americans, that's about 100 F and more). And that's just outside - it can be 10 deg Celsius hotter on court. And no matter how fit you are, everyone who has half a brain in this country knows that our summer sun is a killer. That's why we're 'the skin cancer capital of the world'. Once it gets past a certain temperature, even the fittest of people are going to suffer when they're pushing their bodies to the limit. So I suggest, for anyone who has never suffered heatstroke or been near it, not to criticise anyone who has suffered in heat, cos overheating can kill you.

YES I CAN believe that Chokovic pulled out....again..when he was LOSING. HE was NOT winning. The HEAT was not beating him, Andy Roddick was. By all rights, Andy should have been the one to feel the heat, he is older, and just lost 15 pounds.

Look Novak is a good player, with all the tools, but he is a whiny-ass Mamma's boy.

I loved how Federer (the man who never puts anyone down) said that this was not the first time Novak gave up, and how he does this a lot. He also said that Novak quit on Federer and said that he had a sore throat. Are you kidding me? That is not called heart.

And was not it just last year at the U.S. Open that Novak was having to answer questions about his heart, and integrity? I believe it was against ...hmm...oh yeah Andy Roddick.

I don't think Serbia has the same type of heat as Melbourne, and Melbourne is supposed to be in a heat wave right now. Djokovic was in fine form for the first set, but took a nosedive for the rest... and Roddick grew up in the extreme heat of Florida and Texas. I think Djokovic was telling the truth.

You have to be prepared to play in the heat in the Aussie Open. He obviously didn't not prepare himself, as he also didn't like the heat in a previous tournament. Didn't you love the way Roddick jogged out to start the match again after injury time!!

I don't like Djokovic and he seems to get injured and quit matches a lot. But seriously, playing in 140 degree heat is VERY HARD and for that reason I can't really blame him for him being bothered by the heat.