left thigh muscle tear Injury Forces Djokovic Out as Zverev Secures Final Spot

The Serbian, who had been carrying a muscle tear since Tuesday, retired after losing the first set and the German will play the final on Sunday against Sinner

Novak Djokovic is holding on as long as his left thigh can, exactly 1h 21m, when he has already lost the first set against Alexander Zverev (7-6(5) and the pain does not allow him to continue. Australia bids farewell to its king amidst murmurs, first, and then some boos. The Serbian, 37 years old, had not trained the last two days as a result of the injury he suffered on Tuesday competing against Carlos Alcaraz , but the abrupt farewell at the net caught the public at the centre off guard. The Serbian carries his racket on his shoulder: Is he leaving? Indeed, that is how it is. He will not, therefore, capture that 25th major ever achieved by any tennis player; he and the local Margaret Court remain tied. His rival intervenes in the speech, the German elegant: “Please, guys, do not boo a player when he comes out injured. I know that you paid for your tickets… but Novak has given his life for this sport during the “last 20 years”.

Novak Djokovic is holding on as long as his left thigh can, exactly 1h 21m, when he has already lost the first set against Alexander Zverev (7-6(5) and the pain does not allow him to continue. Australia bids farewell to its king amidst murmurs, first, and then some boos. The Serbian, 37 years old, had not trained the last two days as a result of the injury he suffered on Tuesday competing against Carlos Alcaraz , but the abrupt farewell at the net caught the public at the centre off guard. The Serbian carries his racket on his shoulder: Is he leaving? Indeed, that is how it is. He will not, therefore, capture that 25th major ever achieved by any tennis player; he and the local Margaret Court remain tied. His rival intervenes in the speech, the German elegant: “Please, guys, do not boo a player when he comes out injured. I know that you paid for your tickets… but Novak has given his life for this sport during the “last 20 years”.

Djokovic landed at the tournament coinciding with the publication of an interview in which he denounced a conspiracy against him three years ago , when he was deported from the country; then, he opted to remain silent on the court after beating the Czech Jiri Lehecka in the round of 16, believing that a Channel 9 journalist had mocked him and the compatriots who supported him at Melbourne Park; and ultimately, the Balkan player left in pain and spoke with resignation. “I have done everything possible to manage the muscle tear, but at the end of the first set I started to feel more and more pain. I have tried…”, he tells Jim Courier on the court. Later, in the conference room, he expands and says that if he had won that first set he would still have had problems continuing on the court.

Two years ago he suffered a similar setback – a three-centimetre tear before he started competing – but this time, he says, it was too much for him. “I am disappointed and upset,” he admits. “I managed it better then, but it didn’t bother me as much. I had an extra day off and thought things would go well enough, but that wasn’t the case,” he says. “Injuries are the biggest enemy of a professional athlete. I have had to deal with a situation like that in the past, and it even helped me play better and win the tournament, but today it didn’t. Sometimes it works in your favour, sometimes it doesn’t. It also depends on the other player, how he is handling it too. That is the beauty of one-on-one sports; there is no replacement, you can’t leave for an hour or be replaced.”

The Serbian had injured his muscles three days earlier, when he stretched himself at the net during the quarter-final match against Alcaraz. That night, the medication allowed him to continue fighting and finally beat the Spaniard, who was unable to take advantage of the circumstance and later questioned his opponent’s ailment: ” Someone who is thinking of retiring, does not play like that afterwards .” The facts now show that the physical mishap was significant enough to prevent the 24-time Grand Slam champion from continuing in the tournament, so he will not be able to add to his tally or break the historic tie with Court. His last victory on a major stage dates back to September 2023, in New York. From then on, an increasingly limited presence on the court and a surgical intervention to repair the meniscus that was torn during the last edition of Roland Garros. Also, an Olympic gold that culminated an extraordinary career.

Physical signs

This Friday, his privileged body sends him another signal. Will this be Djokovic’s last time in Melbourne? It could be, but a priori it shouldn’t be like that, he admits. “I don’t know, it’s a possibility. Who knows,” he says. “I’ll have to see how the season goes, but I want to keep going. I like coming here, the place where I’ve had the most success [10 titles], so if I’m fit and motivated, I don’t see why I won’t come,” he adds, while approving his level of play over the last few days, in which he beat Nishesh Basavareddy (107th), Jaime Faria (125th), Tomas Machac (25th), Jiri Lehecka (29th) and Alcaraz (3rd) before he retired against Zverev. His tennis is still more than valid, but the question is how far his physicality will take him. Last year she had to withdraw from Roland Garros due to her knee problems, but just a month and a half later she reached the Wimbledon final. She played 12 tournaments and 46 matches.

His colleague Zverev, ranked second in the world, thanks him. “There is no one I respect more on the circuit than Novak Djokovic. I was always able to send him a message or call him when things weren’t going well. He helped me a lot,” says the Hamburger, who after two lost finals ( US Open 2020 and Roland Garros 2024 ) will have anot

Zverev consoles Djokovic at the end of the match.
Zverev consoles Djokovic at the end of the match.
Joel Carrett (EFE)
His colleague Zverev, ranked second in the world, thanks him. “There is no one I respect more on the circuit than Novak Djokovic. I was always able to send him a message or call him when things weren’t going well. He helped me a lot,” says the Hamburger, who after two lost finals ( US Open 2020 and Roland Garros 2024 ) will have another bullet on Sunday (9.30) to capture his first Grand Slam. He will face Jannik Sinner, Ben Shelton’s executioner (7-6 (2), 6-2 and 6-2). “I wish Sascha all the best. He deserves it and I will be cheering him on. Let’s hope he can get it here,” says the Belgrade native, sixth in the ATP and who for now is not throwing in the towel: “It’s not that I worry about going to each Grand Slam thinking about whether I’m going to get injured or not, but the statistics are against me in recent years. I’ve been injured quite a lot and I don’t know the exact reason, but I will keep going; I will continue to strive to win more Grand Slams. As long as I feel like I want to endure all this, I will be here.”

On Tuesday, John McEnroe hinted during the ESPN television broadcast that the Serbian’s discomfort against Alcaraz was a strategy to get the Spaniard out of the match. “Don’t be fooled,” said the former number one. “I haven’t read in detail what he said, but what I can say is that it is always easier to judge and criticize than to understand. That is my life lesson,” Nole now responds, hurt by the final reaction of the crowd that saw him triumph in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023. “People came here, paid for tickets and expected a fight, but they didn’t get it. From that perspective, I understand it. “I try to at least understand them, I don’t know if they understand me or want to understand me,” he said in a statement reported by Serbian media outlet Sport Klub ; “I know what I feel, how much I have given to this tournament over the last 20 years. So I’m going to stop [talking] now so I don’t continue in the wrong direction…”

SINNER, IN THE LINE OF JIM COURIER
AC | Melbourne
The number one on the circuit, Jannik Sinner, had to overcome the difficulties of the first set against Ben Shelton to then seal his passage to the final. The Italian avoided the double option that the American had to take the opening set, and then flew: 7-6 (2), 6-2 and 6-2 (2h 36m).

The 23-year-old Sinner, the defending champion, will be back in the final after winning his first major in Melbourne last year. According to the ATP, he is the youngest player to win two consecutive finals since Jim Courier did it between 1992 and 1993; on both occasions, the American beat Stefan Edberg.

The tennis player from San Cándido and Zverev have met six times so far, and the German leads by four to two.

her bullet on Sunday (9.30) to capture his first Grand Slam. He will face Jannik Sinner, Ben Shelton’s executioner (7-6 (2), 6-2 and 6-2). “I wish Sascha all the best. He deserves it and I will be cheering him on. Let’s hope he can get it here,” says the Belgrade native, sixth in the ATP and who for now is not throwing in the towel: “It’s not that I worry about going to each Grand Slam thinking about whether I’m going to get injured or not, but the statistics are against me in recent years. I’ve been injured quite a lot and I don’t know the exact reason, but I will keep going; I will continue to strive to win more Grand Slams. As long as I feel like I want to endure all this, I will be here.”

On Tuesday, John McEnroe hinted during the ESPN television broadcast that the Serbian’s discomfort against Alcaraz was a strategy to get the Spaniard out of the match. “Don’t be fooled,” said the former number one. “I haven’t read in detail what he said, but what I can say is that it is always easier to judge and criticize than to understand. That is my life lesson,” Nole now responds, hurt by the final reaction of the crowd that saw him triumph in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023. “People came here, paid for tickets and expected a fight, but they didn’t get it. From that perspective, I understand it. “I try to at least understand them, I don’t know if they understand me or want to understand me,” he said in a statement reported by Serbian media outlet Sport Klub ; “I know what I feel, how much I have given to this tournament over the last 20 years. So I’m going to stop [talking] now so I don’t continue in the wrong direction…”