Injured Djokovic quits mid-match and walks off to boos, vows to strive for more Grand Slam titles at age 37
MELBOURNE, Jan 24: Spectators booed an injured Novak Djokovic as he left the court in Rod Laver Arena after quitting one set into his Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev on Friday.
Dealing with what he said was a torn muscle, Djokovic lost the opening set 7-6 (5) when he put a forehand volley into the net, then began shaking his head and immediately walked over to tell Zverev the match was over.
The 37-year-old Djokovic packed up his equipment and walked off toward the locker room, pausing to respond to the jeers by giving two thumbs-up.
At his news conference, Djokovic said the pain in his taped left leg was “getting worse and worse.” He hurt it during his quarterfinal victory over Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday night.
“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. Instead, it will be No. 1 seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner facing No. 2 Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.
Sinner overcame some third-set cramping and beat No. 21 Ben Shelton of the United States 7-6(2) 6-2 6-2 in Friday’s second semifinal to return to the Australian Open final as he seeks a third Grand Slam title.
Zverev is 0-2 in major finals; this will be his first at Melbourne Park.
“Everything can happen,” said Sinner, who is on a 20-match unbeaten run.
“He’s an incredible player.”
For Djokovic, 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 because he tore the meniscus in his right knee during a match.
Djokovic underwent surgery in Paris and, less than two months later, reached the final at Wimbledon, then won a gold medal for Serbia at the Paris Olympics.
Zverev, a 27-year-old German, lost finals in five sets at the 2020 US Open and 2024 French Open. “My goal is still to compete with the big guys and to compete for these kind of tournaments and try to win them,” Zverev said.
“For that, I need to get better. I need to improve on the court. I need to improve physically.” During his on-court interview, Zverev pleaded with the fans not to give Djokovic a hard time.
“I know that everybody paid for tickets and everybody wants to see hopefully a great five-set match,” he said.
“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, 21 minutes and included 19 points that lasted nine strokes or more apiece. The first four games alone lasted 31 minutes, slowed both by the lengthy baseline exchanges and Djokovic’s deliberate pacing between points, taking the 25-second serve clock down to – and occasionally slightly beyond – the full allotment.