Novak Djokovic faced a challenging moment in his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev, ultimately withdrawing from it due to an injury.
After a competitive first set that ended 7-6 (7-5) in favor of Zverev, Novak Djokovic made the difficult decision to step back, having sustained a muscle tear during his quarter-final match against Carlos Alcaraz.
The 37-year-old Serbian athlete had his upper left leg heavily taped, highlighting the extent of his efforts to compete.
“I did everything I possibly could do to manage the muscle tear that I had,” Djokovic explained. “However, towards the end of that first set, I started feeling increasing pain, and it became too much to handle.”
After a pivotal point where he missed a volley on set point, Djokovic graciously approached Zverev, shaking his hand before acknowledging the crowd with a wave and a double thumbs up, despite some displeased reactions from certain sections of the audience.
“I recognized that even if I had won the first set, it would have been a significant challenge for me to maintain the physical stamina needed to keep up with him in extended rallies,” Djokovic noted. “I didn’t have that capability today.”
Zverev, the second seed from Germany, continues his pursuit of his first Grand Slam title after narrowly missing out in two previous finals. He is set to compete against either top seed Jannik Sinner from Italy or American 21st seed Ben Shelton in Sunday’s final.