6 hours Ago
It wasn’t Novak Djokovic’s day as his valiant 2025 Australian Open campaign ended with a whimper at the Rod Laver Arena. After losing his first set against Alexander Zverev in the first set of their men’s singles semi-final, Djokovic shockingly withdrew from the match due to an injury and was also booed by the crowd, who were equally disappointed. During the post-match press conference, the Serbian was asked to evaluate his campaign in Melbourne this year, and he seemed pleased with his performance.
Also Read: Novak Djokovic shockingly retires from Australian Open semifinal after 1st set; Zverev, Melbourne crowd in disbelief Zverev ‘deserves his first Slam’: Novak Djokovic “I actually thought I played really well as well as I played in the last 12 months to be honest. I like my chances if I was physically fit and be ready to battle. I liked my chances today and who knows, of course, it was never going to be an easy match for me.
I mean neither it was Sascha, even if I was not injured. I think I was striking the ball very well and lots of positives to take in terms of how I played. Semi-finals is a very good result considering you know the circumstances, but you know it is not satisfying to me for my standards.
I always look for the highest goal, to reach the finals and fight for the trophy,” he said. “I wish Sascha all the best, he deserves his first Slam, you know I’ll be cheering for him and hopefully he can get it here,” he added. During the post-match press conference, Djokovic also revealed that he is suffering from a muscle tear and hinted at a possible retirement after the ongoing season.
Already 37-years-old, he suffered the injury during his quarter-final win vs Carlos Alcaraz, but was accused of faking it by John McEnroe. The tennis legend felt that the World No. 7 was trying to catch his opponents off guard.
Meanwhile, the Serbian revealed that he cancelled his training sessions after his win vs Alcaraz, and had his first session, only 90 minutes before his semi-final showdown vs Zverev. Zverev is the current World No. 2 and is a two-time Grand Slam runners-up, reaching the finals at 2020 US Open and 2024 French Open.
He also clinched Olympic gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games. In the final, he will face the winner of the semi-final between Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton..
