Novak Djokovic retired hurt due to a torn muscle in his left leg after losing the first set of his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
Djokovic left Rod Laver Arena to a chorus of boos after dramatically pulling the plug on his final four clash against the world No 2, having barely lost a competitve opening set in a tie-breaker 7-5.
As the 37-year-old walked off toward the locker room, he stopped, turned around and responded by giving two thumbs-up to the crowd.
Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Alexander Zverev after retiring due to injury in their semi-final match
There had been doubt about the record 24-time Grand Slam champion’s fitness after he suffered a left leg injury during his four-set triumph over Carlos Alcaraz which ran late on Tuesday night.
Djokovic did not practice on site on Wednesday then cancelled a session on Thursday, warming up only shortly before the match.
“I did everything I possibly can to manage the muscle tear that I had,” Djokovic told reporters after his semi-final retirement.
“Medications, the strap and the physio work helped to some extent today. But towards the end of that first set I just started feeling more and more pain.
“It was too much to handle for me at the moment. Unfortunate ending, but I tried.
“Even if I won the first set, it’s going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies for another… two, three, four hours. I don’t think I had that, unfortunately, today in the tank.”
Zverev urges crowd not to boo Djokovic
Djokovic had heavy strapping on his thigh for the match but appeared to be moving well during the early exchanges of an opening set that ended up going the distance and lasting one hour and 21 minutes.
Both men had chances to break, with Zverev unable to take five break points across two seperate Djokovic service games and the German recovering from 0-40 down on serve in the fourth game of the set.
It was tight in the tie-break too until Djokovic netted an easy volley at 5-6 to hand Zverev the set, the Serb almost immediately shaking hands with his opponent afterwards.
Zverev, who is through to his third Grand Slam final – chasing a first title – was quick to leap to Djokovic’s defence in his on-court interview, saying: “The very first thing I want to say is please don’t boo a player when he goes out injured.
-“I know that everybody paid for tickets but Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given this sport for the past 20 years absolutely everything of his life.
“He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear, won this tournament with a hamstring tear; if he feels he can’t continue a Tennis match, he can’t continue a tennis match.”
Zverev did, however, admit he too was surprised to see Djokovic throw in the towel, adding: “I thought it was quite a high-level first set.
“Of course, the longer you continue, the worse it can get and maybe he was not moving as well in the tie-break.
“I’m happy to be in the final of the Australian Open but, on the other hand, there’s no guy on the tour that I respect more than Novak.
“Whenever I’ve struggled, I could call him, ask him for advice. I wanted it to be a tough five-set match as well.”
Djokovic: I’ll chat to Murray about the next step
Djokovic’s withdrawal means a premature end to his first tournament with coach Andy Murray, and it remains to be seen whether the arrangement will continue.
Novak Djokovic had former rival Andy Murray in his corner as coach during the Australian Open
“We both were disappointed with what just happened, so we didn’t talk about the future steps,” Djokovic said on the situation.
“I’ll definitely have a chat with Andy and thank him for being here with me, give him my feedback, which is, of course, positive, see how he feels and we make the next step.”
Djokovic should be encouraged by his level of play during the tournament, while he said he does not envisage this being his final Australian Open – albeit he admits his body is becoming more injury prone.
This is the second time in the last four Grand Slams that he has been forced to pull out, having suffered a knee injury during the French Open.
“It’s not like I’m worrying approaching every Grand Slam now whether I’m going to get injured or not, but statistics are against me in a way in the last couple of years,” he said.
“I want to keep going. I’ll keep striving to win more Slams. And, as long as I feel that I want to put up with all of this, I’ll be around.”
In his first Australian Open final, Zverev will face the winner of Friday’s second semi-final between world No 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner and 21st seed Ben Shelton.
