A first set of the highest level that pushed Novak Djokovic to the limit from every point of view and then the sudden withdrawal. After losing the first partial in the tie-break, the Serbian champion understood that he would not be able to compete at his best for the rest of the match and withdrew due to the injury to his left leg.
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To try to recover from the problem that occurred during the quarter-final with Carlos Alcaraz, the former ATP No.1 native did not train for two days with the hope of being competitive in view of the semifinal against Alexander Zverev.
However, his leg did not provide him with the response he was looking for, at least according to the final decision. Djokovic appeared to be in difficulty on serve, but he still held his own from the baseline against the German, grabbing the tie-break. It was probably at that moment that he listened to his body and threw in the towel before making the situation even worse. Zverev is therefore the first finalist of the Australian Open 2025.
"I hadn't hit the ball since the match with Alcaraz. I did everything I could to try to manage the muscle tear. The therapies and the work of the physiotherapists helped me, but I started to feel more and more pain towards the end of the first set. It was too much, but I tried. If I had won the set, maybe I would have tried to play a few more games.
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But the situation was getting worse and the tank was empty. In 2023 I managed the injury better, because it didn't bother me so much. That wasn't the case. You have to try to do what you can, I thought that the time available to recover would be enough for me; it wasn't like that.
My Last Australian Open? I don't know, that's a possibility. I have to see how the season goes. I would like to continue, but I'm not sure what my calendar will be. If I'm motivated enough and healthy enough, I don't see why I shouldn't come back. But that's a possibility," he explained at the press conference.
"It's true that I've had several injuries in recent years. I'll have to understand the reason for what happened. I'll continue to fight to win more Slams: as long as I feel like I can bear all this, I'll continue," added the Serbian champion, who has no intention of giving up and will try to win more Majors as long as his body allows him to compete at a high level.
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Nole then added how he hopes Zverev wins his first Major: "Alexander deserves his first Slam. I will be rooting for him and hope he makes it here."
The 24 times Slam champion explained that he will try to understand the reason why the number of injuries has increased in recent years, once he returns to Europe. Another knot to unravel concerns his team. Djokovic said he was enthusiastic about the collaboration with Andy Murray, who has shown great potential also in the role of coach. The two will have to talk to decide their future.
"Murray? I don't know. We're both disappointed about what happened today and we haven't talked about the future yet. I'll definitely talk to him. I'll thank him for being here with me and give him my feedback, which is great. We'll see what he thinks. It's not easy to turn the page and start talking about the next steps right now. We both need to switch off a bit," said Djokovic.
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"I think I played very well. I liked my chances in this tournament when I was still physically good and ready to fight. I was hitting the ball well, there are a lot of positives to take into account. The semifinal, considering the circumstances, is a good result. Of course I'm not satisfied, because the goal is always to fight for the big titles. I wish Sascha the best, he deserves to win his first Slam and I'll be rooting for him in Australia," added the Serbian champion.
