Djokovic gutted after pulling out due to muscle tear : “I was playing really well”

Novak Djokovic could not hide his disappointment at having to pull out after one set of his Australian Open semi-final with Alexander Zverev on Friday, saying he felt he had been playing better than at any time in the past year.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion beat Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round but the thigh muscle strain he suffered in the first set of that battle was too much for him to cope with against Zverev, who took the first set on the tiebreak, 7-5, and who will meet either Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton in the final.

” I actually thought I played really well, as well as I played the last 12 months, to be honest,” the 37-year-old said of his form over the past two weeks. “I liked my chances if I was physically fit and ready to battle.

“I liked my chances today. Who knows? Of course, it was never going to be an easy battle, an easy match for me. Neither it was for Sascha, even if I was not injured. But as I said, I think I was striking the ball very well. A lot of positives to take in terms of how I played semi-finals.

“It’s very good results considering the circumstances. But it’s not satisfying to me, you know, for my standards. I always look for the highest goal, to reach the finals and fight for a trophy. I wish Sascha all the best. You know, he deserves his first slam. I’ll be cheering for him. Hopefully he can get it here.”

“If I’d won the first set, who knows?”

Djokovic admitted he might have tried to play on had he taken the first set, but said he still would have struggled to finish what could very well have been a long match.

“If I won the first set, maybe I would try, yeah, I don’t know, a few more games, half a set, maybe a set. I don’t know. It was getting worse and worse,” he said.

“I knew even if I won the first set, that it’s going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies, you know, for another God knows what, two, three, four hours. I don’t think I had that, unfortunately, today in the tank.”

“There’s a chance this could be my last one here”

Djokovic said he hoped to return to Melbourne next year, a place where he has won the title 10 times, but admitted there was a chance this could be his last Australian Open.

“I don’t know,” he said. “There is a chance. Who knows? I’ll just have to see how the season goes. 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 to play. 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.”