"There are no positives from political injustice and nonsense politics" - Tennis fans hit back at Patrick McEnroe for hinting at a silver lining in Novak Djokovic missing Australian Open and US Open

Patrick McEnroe recently took to social media to comment on Novak Djokovic missing the Australian Open and the US Open this year, saying that it has had an inadvertent positive effect, which is that the Serb is unusually hungry for success in the final stretch of the season.

The American, therefore, was of the opinion that it generated more interest in other less-heralded tournaments being played during this time of the year, something which wouldn't be the case normally.

"One positive from Novak Djokovic missing the Australian Open and the US Open in 2022….There is much more interest in the tournaments being played in this part of the calendar," the American's tweet read.

The Serb could not compete at the Australian Open and the US Open due to his stance on COVID vaccination. He also missed four Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, Montreal and Cincinnati.

McEnroe's tweet came after Djokovic won his fourth title of the season at the Astana Open by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Had the 21-time Grand Slam champion played all the aforementioned tournaments and booked his spot in the ATP Tour Finals already, his participation in Astana would have been very unlikely.

Several fans were far from pleased with the 56-year-old's tweet, with one describing Djokovic's absence from the tournaments as "nonsense politics" and that seeing a positive in something so nonsensical was not justified.

"There are no “positives” from political injustice and nonsense politics. Patrick, I get the sentiment you’re trying to convey , but… No," the tweet read.

Another user on Twitter pointed out that calling the injustice handed out to the Serb as "interesting" was not the right move, saying:

'Patrick, if you think the horrible injustice to Novak helped make tennis more “interesting” let’s see Rafa or some other media darling take on the mantle of making tennis more “interesting” next year."

Another fan noted that Djokovic did not "miss" the tournaments but was "banned" for political reasons, siding with the 35-year-old in his quest for bodily autonomy.

"Is there any positive from what they did to Djokovic? He did not miss those tournaments, he was banned for political reasons and most of the establishment remained silent and even mocked him after that. Nothing remains hidden under the sun and greatness will prevail," the tweet read.

Here are some more reactions from fans:

"I dared to dream" - Novak Djokovic on winning 90 ATP singles titles

Novak Djokovic won his 90th ATP singles title at the Astana Open

Novak Djokovic won his 90th ATP singles title at the Astana Open with his victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. The Serb said in his post-match press conference that he dared to dream of winning many titles and hoped to have a great career even from an early age.

“I dared to dream, actually,” Novak Djokovic said. “I always hoped that I would be going to have a great career. Obviously, didn’t know the amount of finals I was going to play, the amount of tournaments I was going to win, but my intention was always to reach the highest heights in our sport.”

By winning the Astana Open, Djokovic has also sealed his place in the ATP Tour Finals in Turin.