"There are ways to hype up Novak Djokovic without being mean to his opponent" - Tennis fans blast Patrick McEnroe for sarcastic dig at Andrey Rublev

Former tennis player Patrick McEnroe's comments about Andrey Rublev during the Russian's 2023 Australian Open quarterfinal clash against Novak Djokovic haven't been well-received by fans.

Djokovic outperformed the 25-year-old with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory in two hours and three minutes to reach the last four in Melbourne for the tenth time. The Serb, who is just two wins away from equaling Rafael Nadal's tally of 22 Grand Slam titles, has never lost after reaching the semifinals at the Melbourne Major.

At the end of the second set, McEnroe — who is American tennis legend John McEnroe’s younger brother — took a sarcastic dig at fifth seed Rublev for not being able to compete with the World No. 5 Serb.

At the @AustralianOpen, the world number 6 @AndreyRublev97 is playing really well vs @DjokerNole. He has won 3 games in 2 sets," McEnroe tweeted.

Fans slammed the 56-year-old, suggesting that Djokovic was playing at a different level altogether and that there was no need to belittle his opponents. Some even reminded McEnroe of his own career before asking him to refrain from making such comments about others.

McEnroe won his only singles title at the 1995 Sydney Outdoor Championship, with World No. 28 being his career-high ranking in singles.

"Idk how you want others to take it but Rublev has been pretty good too . Novak is once in a generation player . So keeping him aside , Rublev has been great . He needs to lower down the unforced errors," a fan tweeted.

"I choose to believe he's not being sarcastic here, coz Andrey actually played well & fought for much of this match. Novak is on a mission. And if he is being sarcastic, this is the flex of a useless pr@t whose only relevance is having a bro who was a good tennis player 30yrs ago," a user posted.

"There are ways to hype up Novak without being mean to his opponent, it’s not a good look," another tweet read.

Here are a few more reactions:

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Novak Djokovic praises Andrey Rublev after quarterfinal win

Andrey Rublev (L) and Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic lauded Andery Rublev after his quarterfinal victory, saying that the Russian played better than the score suggested in the first two sets.

"Overall, I think that the scoreline in the first two sets doesn't speak the truth or the reality of the match," Djokovic said. "It was some really close games that we had. Andrey is a great opponent, a great player. I've got tons of respect for him, one of the biggest forehands, one of the the quickest players on the Tour."

The Serb will take on American Tommy Paul in the semifinals on Friday, January 27, in what will be their first tour-level meeting.