Confronted with what he described as a muscle tear, Djokovic, seventh seeded, lost the initial round 7-6 (5), after he had sent a stolen in the net.
Immediately afterwards, he started to shake his head and headed for Zverev to let him know that the match was over. The Serbian of 37 replied his equipment and headed for the locker room, stopping for a few seconds to respond to the hoots by raising the two inches.
At a press conference, Djokovic said the pain in his left leg was “increasingly strong”. Djokovic was injured in his victory in the quarterfinals against Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday evening.
“I knew that even if I won the first set, it would be a very exhausting battle for me,” said Djokovic, who was aiming for an 11th title to the Australian internationals and a 25th in simple – which would have been a record of all Times – during tournaments of the Grand Chelem.
Instead, it was Zverev who will take part in a third Grand Chelem final, and a first in Melbourne, against Jannik Sinner, world number one on Sunday evening.
Sinner overcome cramps in the third set and beat the American Ben Shelton (21st) 7-6 (2), 6-2 and 6-2 in the second semi-final on Friday.
Rejective champion in Melbourne, Sinner will try to win a third title in Grand Chelem tournament. Zverev will aim for a first triumph in such circumstances.
“Anything can happen,” said Sinner, who will appear on the court with a sequence of 20 victories. “He's an incredible player,” he added, speaking of Zverev.
For Djokovic, it is the second time in the last four major tournaments that he has not been able to finish because of an injury. Last year, he withdrew from the French internationals before the quarter -finals because he had torn the meniscus of the right knee during a match.
Djokovic was operated in Paris and, less than two months later, reached the Wimbledon international final, then won a gold medal for Serbia at the Paris Olympic Games.
Zverev, a 27-year-old German, lost in five sets the finals of the United States of the United States of 2020 and the Internationals of France in 2024.
“My goal is always to compete with the big ones, to participate in this kind of tournament and to try to win them,” said Zverev. “For that, I have to improve myself. I have to improve on the ground. I have to improve myself physically. “
During his interview on the court, Zverev asked the fans to be reconciling in the place of Djokovic.
“I know everyone has paid tickets and that everyone hopes to see a big match in five sets,” he said.
“But you must understand that Novak Djokovic is someone who has given this sport, in the past 20 years, absolutely everything he has done with his life.”
The only set between Djokovic and Zverev lasted 1 hour and 21 minutes and included 19 points which lasted nine or more on each side.
-The first four games alone lasted 31 minutes, slowed down both by long exchanges in the background and by the deliberate pace of Djokovic between the points, flowing each of the 25 seconds which were allowed to him between the services, and sometimes slightly beyond.
The match was exhausting – and would have been even more without a problem with the leg which appeared at the end of the first set against Alcaraz.
“I have not struck any ball (after) the match against Alcaraz until an hour before today's match,” said Djokovic.
“I did everything in my power to manage the muscle tear I had. Medicines and, I suppose, the adhesive tape and the work of physiotherapists helped me to some extent today, “he added.
“But towards the end of the first set, I started to feel more and more pain and it was too much for me. It's an unhappy end, but I tried. “
Zverev said he could feel “some irregularities” on the other side of the net in the decisive game and that he had noticed that Djokovic was tearing up “maybe a little more”.
Two years ago, in Melbourne Park, Djokovic injured himself in the left ischi-leg but had still managed to leave with the trophy. Against Alcaraz, he was late in a set against a 16 -year -old younger player, but he won. This time, Djokovic failed to get out of it.
After the match, Djokovic was not sure of himself. Could it have been his last appearance at Melbourne Park?
“There is a chance. Who knows? replied Djokovic. “I will see how the season takes place. I want to continue. “
He said he was too early to find out how long he could stay away.
He added that he did not yet know what would come from his coach contract with his former rival on the court, Andy Murray.
What Djokovic said clearly is that his concentration and objectives will not weaken.
“It is not as if I worried about each great slam to know if I am going to injure myself or not, but the statistics are somehow against me in the past two years,” he admitted.
“But I will continue. I will continue to endeavor to win other Grand Slam tournaments. And as long as I feel that I want to endure all this, I will be there. ”
