“Wire transfer must have hit his bank”;“Talk about cash grab” - Fans ridicule Novak Djokovic for retiring mid-match vs Taylor Fritz at Six Kings Slam

Novak Djokovic was recently seen in action at the Six Kings Slam. During the exhibition, the Serb retired mid-way through his third-place match against Taylor Fritz, and fans were quick to ridicule his decision.

Djokovic was one of the six tennis stars invited for the 2026 Six Kings Slam. The 38-year-old was seeded second in Riyadh and subsequently got a bye for his quarterfinals encounter at the exhibition. For his semifinals encounter, he took on former World No.1 Jannik Sinner and went down 4-6, 2-6 against the Italian.

On Saturday, Novak Djokovic faced off against Taylor Fritz for the third-place play-off match at the exhibition, but retired from the match after the first set. Reacting to this, one fan on X wrote,

“Wire transfer must have hit his bank.”

Another fan ridiculed the Serb in a similar manner, writing,

“Lol retiring from an exhibition. Talk about a cash grab.”

Here's how other tennis enthusiasts reacted to Djokovic's mid-game retirement at the Six Kings Slam:

“Got the money he wanted so why carry on,” one fan wrote. “Djokovic retires from exhibitions while Federer never retired once from 1526 professional matches,” another observed. “The way I read his body language -"wtf am I doing here, playing for the 3rd place in an exhibition and dropping a set, while my family is at home. I gotta catch a flight out of here asap,” one X user commented. “Djokovic retiring in an exhibition tells you he's not doing well physically,” yet another fan chimed in.

Novak Djokovic set to return to action at Hellenic Championship

Djokovic in action at the Six Kings Slam 2025 (Image Source: Getty)

After wrapping up his campaign at the Six Kings Slam, Novak Djokovic is now scheduled to return to action at the Hellenic Championships. The tournament is an ATP 250 event slated to take place between November 2 and 8 at the OAKA Basketball Arena in Athens Greece. Outside of the Serb, the entry list for the competition also includes Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jakub Mensik, Karen Khachanov, and Joao Fonseca amongst others.

After the Hellenic Championships, Novak Djokovic could compete at the 2025 ATP Tour Finals. The 38-year-old is the only player except Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to have mathematically confirmed his place in Turin, but fans remain uncertain as to whether he will compete at the event.

Edited by Riddhi Acharya