Home Sports Australian Open: Injured Novak Djokovic withdraws after losing first set 7–6 to Alexander Zverev

Australian Open: Injured Novak Djokovic withdraws after losing first set 7–6 to Alexander Zverev

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Australian Open: Injured Novak Djokovic withdraws after losing first set 7–6 to Alexander Zverev

In a surprising development in the Australia Open, a injured novak retired after losing the first set of his semifinal party against Alexander Zverev.

Zverev won an exhausting for the first time at a draw of 7–6 that lasted an hour and 20 minutes. Djokovic decided that he could not continue with a left leg injury that was hindering him throughout the game. The 10 -time Australian Open Champion revealed that the injury was a muscular tear.

As soon as the set ended, Djokovic put his thumb up and admitted the game. Zverev and the crowd in Rod Laver Arena were silenced with disbelief.

“Please, boys, do not boo a player when they go out with an injury,” Zverev said on the court in his interview after the game.

“I know that everyone paid the tickets and everyone wants to see a great five set match. But you have to understand during the last 20 years, Novak Djokovic has given Tennis absolutely everything,” he added. “He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear, a tear of hamstrings. If he can’t continue with this match, he means that he really can’t continue.”

Djokovic established the rhythm at the beginning of the game and seemed to be controlling the game, to Zverev’s frustration. Although the injury bothered him during his victory in the quarterfinals over Carlos Alcaraz and could not practice Wednesday or Thursday before the game with Zverev, it didn’t seem to be a problem. That obviously changed as the first set progressed.

“Until an hour before today’s game, I did my best to handle the muscle breakage he had,” Djokovic told journalists later.

“The medications and the belt and the work in the physiobato helped to some extent today,” he continued. “But towards the end of that first set, I began to feel more and more pain, and it was too much for me to drive at this time. So, unfortunate final, but I tried.”

(Tagstotranslate) Novak Djokovic (T) Alexander Zverev (T) Semifinal Match (T) Muscle tear (T) Australia open

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