Serbian Tennis legend Novak Djokovic has abruptly retired from his Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev due to a muscle tear he sustained earlier in the tournament at the Rod Laver Arena on Friday.
Before the match, the 37-year-old Serbian’s upper left leg was heavily taped after playing with an injury during his quarterfinal match against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
After losing the first set 7-6, the 10-time Australian Open champion surprisingly shook hands with his opponent and was sent off to a chorus of boos from the crowd.
The eventual finalist Alaxander Zverev condemned the boos from the stands indicating that Novak is a legend in the game and as such should be accorded with respect.
What has Zverev said?
“The very first thing I want to say is, please, guys, don’t boo a player when he goes out with an injury,” Zverev said in his on-court interview.
“I know everybody paid for tickets and wants to see, hopefully, a five-set match. He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear and with a hamstring injury. So, please show some respect,” he added.
Seen in both dark tape and a white bandage enveloping his upper thigh , Djokovic was bidding for a record-extending 11th title, quit after losing the first set 7-6 (7-5) in 80 minutes on the court—a sad development.
What has Djukovic said?
“I did everything I possibly can to manage the muscle tear that I had. Medications and the strap 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. It was getting worse and worse. It was just too much to handle for me at the moment”.
“I knew even if I won the first set it was going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies for another, god knows, two, three, four hours. I don’t think I had that, unfortunately, today in the tank. Unfortunate ending, but I tried.” he said for Carlos Alcaraz win on Tuesday.
“Look, it’s a muscle tear. I have [previously] managed it better on the court, it didn’t bother me as much.
“I had an extra day, so two days with no match, so I thought it was going to be good enough. But that wasn’t the case, unfortunately.” Djukovic said on Friday.
On Sunday, Zverev will play defending champion and No 1 seed Jannik Sinner in the final, after the Italian beat American 21st seed Ben Shelton in the other semifinal.
