Novak Djokovic gave the big surprise on Friday by withdrawing from his Australian Open semi-final with Alexander Zverev after losing the first set in the ‘tie break’, 7-6(5). The crowd at the Rod Laver Arena did not understand and booed the Serb as he left the court.
“Don’t whistle at a player when he retires because of an injury. I know you paid for the ticket, but Djokovic has given everything for tennis for 25 years. He won this title with a tear in his thigh and abdominal. Show some love towards him,” Zverev said at the end of the match
One hour and 21 minutes of intense tennis with long rallies had been played. Djokovic came out with his left thigh bandaged, but never gave the impression of playing affected by the injury and much less that he was going to raise the white flag early. The 37-year-old had been unable to train since defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.
I have a muscle tear and I couldn’t stand the pain
Novak Djokovic
“If there is one player I respect on the tour it is Novak. Whenever I have needed him he has been there. Last year we talked for a long time in Shanghai when I was having problems,” said the Hamburg tennis player. Sascha will play his third Grand Slam final on Sunday against the winner of the match between Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton
John McEnroe had questioned the veracity of the injury during the broadcast of the match against Alcaraz.
Djokovic had let the opening set slip away with a volley error. Before that, he had been able to neutralise all his opponent’s break attempts. In just eight months, Zverev has beaten Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros and now Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. The future of the only member of the ‘Big Three’ is in question. His schedule shows his next commitment to be the 500 Open in Doha (February 17-22)
Time passes for everyone, even for the best tennis player in history, who has been forced to retire in two of the last four majors. At Roland Garros it was his knee that prevented him from playing the quarter-finals against Casper Ruud. This time it was his thigh that stopped him. “I’m happy with my tennis. I was hitting the ball well,” he reflected before taking a flight back to Belgrade. Novak will miss the Davis Cup tie against Denmark, scheduled for next weekend in Copenhagen