Novak Djokovic is into the Wimbledon semi-finals after his quarter-final opponent, Alex de Minaur, was knocked out… forced to retire due to a hip injury.
De Minaur, seeded No. 9, will face the seven-time Wimbledon champion on Wednesday on Centre Court. He told reporters he heard a crack near the end of his fourth-round win over Arthur Fils on Monday.
“Obviously, it’s not an announcement I wanted to make, by any means,” said De Minaur, who realized he wouldn’t be able to play during a practice session on Wednesday. “I’m devastated.”
“It’s no secret that at this stage of my career, this was the most important match of my career. I wanted to do everything I could to play. I knew what the results were yesterday, but I still wanted to wake up today and feel some kind of miracle and not feel it while I was walking.”
“The problem with me going out to play is that a stretch, a slip, anything, can make the recovery from this injury last three to six weeks or four months. It’s too risky.”
Djokovic will now face either Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti in Friday’s semi-final, which will be the 13th time he has made it that far at Wimbledon, equalling Roger Federer for the most by a man in the tournament’s history.
Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz will meet in the other men’s semi-final on Friday.