BOWING OUT Serbia's Novak Djokovic acknowledges the applause as he exits the court after retiring from the men's singles semifinal against Germany's Alexander Zverev on day thirteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 24, 2025. Picture: Martin Keep/AFP
Image: Martin Keep/AFP
Novak Djokovic retired injured after losing a gruelling first set of his Australian Open semi-final to Alexander Zverev, leaving his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam crown in tatters on Friday.
The 37-year-old Serbian great's upper left leg was again heavily taped after he hurt it in the quarter-finals and he called time after going down 7-6 (7/5).
He left the court to a mixture of boos and applause from the crowd as Germany's Zverev reached his first Melbourne final.
It means Djokovic has now gone five Grand Slams without winning the title he needs to surpass Margaret Court's 24 and become the all-time leader.
He failed to collect one for the first time in seven years in 2024 with his last coming at the 2023 US Open, casting further doubt on whether he will ever get past Court.
The defeat also deprived him of a 100th career title. Roger Federer (102) is the only player, man or woman, to reach the century mark.
Zverev's reward is a clash in Sunday's showdown with either world number one Jannik Sinner or American 21st seed Ben Shelton.
While the German has been a Grand Slam runner-up twice before, at last year's French Open and the 2020 US Open, he has never before been to the final in Melbourne.
Last year at the same semi-final stage he crashed to Daniil Medvedev in five sets after holding a 2-0 lead.
But he came into the season with renewed vigour after ending 2024 as world number two, winning more matches than anyone bar Sinner and back to his best after a horrific ankle injury.
Djokovic came into the clash with questions over his fitness after needing medical attention in his four-set quarter-final win against Carlos Alcaraz.
He said before the match he was worried about his physical condition.
But he has demonstrated remarkable powers of recovery more than once in his career and it didn't appear to hinder him initially.
He moved with his customary zip in an opening service game that featured a 27-shot rally and again in saving four break points as his serve mis-fired.
It was then Zverev's turn to save three break points and keep the match on serve at 2-2, with both players blowing hot and cold.
Another break point went begging for the German at 4-4, with Djokovic barely getting 50 percent of his first serves in.
It went to a tight tiebreak after which Djokovic retired.
AFP