Novak Djokoivc has bowed out of the 2025 Australian Open, retiring at the end of the first set of his semi-final which he lost 7-6 to Alexander Zverev on Friday.
The 10-time champion at Melbourne was moving gingerly due to a groin injury in the course of the first set which lasted for one hour and 21 minutes before the Serb threw in the towel after sending a return into the net.
37-year-old Djokovic suffered the injury during his four-set win over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-final and revealed he had not hit a ball since then, appearing with a white bandage wrapped around his upper thigh for the clash with Zverev.
“I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had,” Djokovic said. “Medications, and this strap, and the physio work helped to some extent today.“
He added, “Towards the end of that first set, I just started feeling more and more pain, and it was too much to handle for me at the moment. So, yeah, unfortunate ending, but I tried.”
Commenting on whether this will be his last appearance at the Australian Open, Djokovic refused to rule out a return to Melbourne although he did not commit to any decision.
“I don’t know, there is a chance. Who knows? I’ll just have to see how the season goes,” he said. “I want to keep going, but whether I’m going to have a revised schedule or not for the next year, I’m not sure. I normally like to come to Australia and play.”
He continued, ”I’ve had the biggest success in my career here. So if I’m fit, healthy, motivated, I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t come, but there’s always a chance.”
Following Djokovic’s retirement from the Grand Slam, Zverev awaits the winner of the second semi-final later on Friday between two-time Grand Slam winner, Jannik Sinner, and and American underdog, Ben Shelton.