"Novak Djokovic absolutely cooked those dumb players" - Fans react to Serb calling out ATP & WTA stars over controversial Masters decision

Novak Djokovic's bold remark calling out ATP and WTA stars over two-week-long Masters tournaments garnered attention from fans. The Serb, who will return for his 19th appearance at the US Open this year, voiced his opinions on how these prolonged 1000-level tournaments take up just as long as Grand Slams and can prove to be detrimental.

The Masters tournaments, except Indian Wells and Miami, have traditionally been week-long events. However, an updated regulation in 2023 extended these events for 12-14 days. Currently, seven out of the nine Masters events are held for two weeks, with the most recent additions being the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open.

In a pre-tournament press conference, the 23-time Grand Slam champion protested against it and blamed ATP and WTA players for not speaking up on this issue beforehand. Fans came across his statement on X (formerly Twitter) and shared their views on his opinion.

Here are some of the fan reactions:

"Djokovic absolutely cooked those dumb players. The fact that they didn’t really opposite this 2 weeks masters back then is a joke. It’s on them too. What’s the council do? Led that clown POSrev isn’t it? Useless muppet," posted one.

"Everyone complains about the Calendar, but no one dares to denounce or support the PTPA. He's right, it's a pointless waste," claimed another.

"Man none of em top players have got the balls to say anything against the ATP lol Nole is the only one," stated a fan.

"He's right," wrote a fan.

"He’s absolutely right btw if you watch the whole answer and not some cherry picked quotes," posted another.

Novak Djokovic did not play any hard-court matches leading up to the US Open since Miami, missing both the Canadian and Cincinnati Open.

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Novak Djokovic on not playing ATP tournaments

Novak Djokovic stated that his only focus right now is to play and put his best foot forward in Grand Slams. During the pre-tournament press meet on Saturday, he said:

“I decided not to play because I wanted to spend more time with my family, and to be honest, you know, I think I earned my right and have the luxury of kind of choosing, picking and choosing where I want to go and what I want to play.”

The Serb has missed all the ATP tournaments since Roland Garros. His last event was the Geneva Open, where he achieved the historic feat of 100 ATP titles.