MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An injured Novak Djokovic quit because of a torn muscle in his left leg after dropping the first set of his Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev on Friday.
Djokovic lost the opener 7-6 (5) and immediately walked around the net to concede the match to Zverev and shake hands. Spectators booed as the 37-year-old Djokovic walked off toward the locker room, and he stopped, turned around and responded by giving two thumbs-up.
At his news conference, Djokovic said the pain in his left leg was “getting worse and worse.” He hurt it during his quarterfinal victory over Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday night and wore white tape around his upper leg against Zverev.
“I knew,” Djokovic said, “even if I won the first set, it was going to be a huge uphill battle for me.”
He was bidding for an 11th championship at the Australian Open and record 25th Grand Slam title overall. But this is the second time in the past four major tournaments he was unable to finish because of an injury: He withdrew from last year’s French Open before the quarterfinals after tearing the meniscus in his right knee during a match.
Djokovic had surgery a couple of days later and immediately reached the final at the following major, Wimbledon, then won a gold medal for Serbia at the Paris Olympics.
On Friday, he was asked whether this might have been his last appearance at Melbourne Park.
“There is a chance. Who knows?” Djokovic said. “I’ll just have to see how the season goes. I want to keep going.”
The No. 2-seeded Zverev reached his first title match at Melbourne Park and on Sunday will face No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, the defending champion, who beat No. 21 Ben Shelton of the United States in the other semifinal match.
Zverev is a two-time runner-up at other major tournaments, losing finals in five sets at the 2020 U.S. Open and 2024 French Open.
“The very first thing I want to say is: Please, guys, don’t boo a player when he goes out with injury,” Zverev told the Rod Laver Arena crowd during his on-court interview. “I know that everybody paid for tickets and everybody wants to see hopefully a great five-set match. But you’ve got to understand — Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given this sport, for the past 20 years, absolutely everything of his life.”
The only set of Djokovic vs. Zverev lasted 1 hour, 20 minutes and included 19 points that lasted nine strokes or more apiece. The first four games alone lasted 31 minutes.
It was grueling — and would have been even without dealing with a problem with one’s body. But everything was too much for Djokovic with the thigh, which first became an issue late in the first set against Alcaraz.
“I didn’t hit the ball since (the) Alcaraz match until like an hour before today’s match,” Djokovic said. “I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had. Medications and I guess the (tape) and the physio work helped to some extent today. But towards the end of that first set, I just started feeling more and more pain and it was too much for me to handle. Unfortunate ending, but I tried.”
Zverev said he could sense “some dents” on the other side of the net in the tiebreaker and noticed that Djokovic was struggling “maybe a bit more.”
Two years ago at Melbourne Park, Djokovic hurt his left hamstring but still managed to depart with the trophy. Against Alcaraz, he was down a set against someone who is 16 years his junior but won.
This time, Djokovic could not pull off a similar escape.
“If he cannot continue a tennis match, it really means he cannot continue a tennis match. So, please, be respectful,” Zverev said to the fans. “And really show some love for Novak.”
And afterward, there was a lot Djokovic was unsure about.
He said it’s too soon to know how long he might be sidelined.
He said he isn’t sure yet what will happen to his coaching arrangement with former on-court rival Andy Murray.
What Djokovic did make clear: His focus and goals will not waver.
“It’s not like I’m worrying approaching every Grand Slam now whether I’m going to get injured or not, but statistics are against me in a way in the last couple of years,” he said. “But I’ll keep going. I’ll keep striving to win more Slams. And as long as I feel that I want to put up with all of this, I’ll be around.”
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