Novak Djokovic's Australian Open hopes were dashed as he was forced to retire from his quarterfinal match against Alexander Zverev due to a torn muscle in his left leg. The 21-time Grand Slam champion was visibly struggling with the injury, which occurred during his previous match against Carlos Alcaraz, and was ultimately unable to continue. Zverev advanced to Sunday's final, where he will face the winner of the other semifinal between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Karen Khachanov.
Jake Michaels is a Melbourne-based sports writer. He has been with ESPN since 2013, covering a wide range of sports from AFL to Formula One, basketball to boxing, and tennis, both in Australia and internationally. After Zverev secured a grueling 81-minute first set in a tiebreak, Djokovic, visibly hampered by heavy strapping on his left thigh, walked gingerly to the net and shook hands with the world No. 2, conceding the match and confirming Zverev's spot in Sunday's final.
The capacity Rod Laver Arena crowd booed Djokovic as he made his way off the court, to which he responded with a defiant two thumbs up. 'I did everything I possibly could to manage the muscle tear that I had,' a dejected Djokovic told reporters moments after leaving the court. '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.' 'The very first thing I want to say is, please, guys, don't boo a player when he goes out with injury,' Zverev said. 'I know that everybody paid for tickets and wants to see hopefully a five-set match. He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear, won this tournament with a hamstring injury. So please show some respect.' Novak Djokovic, responding to the booing fans with two thumbs up, was forced to retire from Friday's match due to a torn muscle in his left leg. The injury occurred during his quarterfinal victory over Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic, aiming for a record-extending 11th title at Melbourne Park, suffered the injury during his fourth-round win against the world No. 3. Friday's retirement marks the second time in the past 12 months Djokovic has been forced to withdraw from a Grand Slam due to injury. At last year's French Open, he withdrew from his quarterfinal against Casper Ruud. 'It is true that, you know, getting injured quite a bit the last few years. I don't know what exactly is the reason for that,' Djokovic said. '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. 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.' 'When I go back home to Europe, I will get together with the medical team and my physios and try to understand what we can do and the quickest way to recover and get back on track,' he said. 'I still have the Doha tournament in a few weeks' time that is scheduled. Whether I'm going to play that or not, it really does depend on how quickly I recover. It just depends on the muscle and how it responds to the treatment.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC ALEXANDER ZVEREV AUSTRALIAN OPEN MUSCLE TEAR RETIREMENT QUARTERFINAL FINAL TENNIS
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