“THE PAIN WAS UNBEARABLE!” Novak speaks out after retiring, reveals he didn’t practice since the Alcaraz match (VIDEO)

Novak Djokovic retired from his Australian Open semifinal match against Alexander Zverev after the German won the first set 7-6 (7-5). The greatest tennis player of all time will soon address journalists at a press conference.

We didn’t want to believe it, but the condition of Novak Djokovic’s muscles was so bad that he couldn’t continue the Australian Open semifinal match and had to retire against Alexander Zverev at the score of 7-6 (7-5) for the German.

“I haven’t hit a ball since the Alcaraz match, I did everything I could to recover, to repair the tear. Medications, bandages, work with physiotherapists, it helped me to some extent, but in the first set I felt pain and couldn’t handle it. Maybe I could have lasted another half set or a set if I had won the first set, but…” said Nole.

I knew I could also win the first set, it was a question of how much longer I could hold out. On continuing the cooperation with Mario:

– I don’t really know, we haven’t talked about future steps, we’ll talk, we’ll see what happens. I’m glad he was here. Now we’re completely disappointed with what happened. We need to cool down from everything that happened. I think I played pretty well here, I hit well, the semifinals are a good result, but not for me. I always aim for trophies. Congratulations to Sasha, I wish him luck in the final. Is this a chance that this is the last AO?

– There is a chance, but let’s see how the season unfolds. I would love to come back, if I’m healthy and motivated I would love to come back, but there is a chance, of course, that this is my last AO. Novak is extremely disappointed:

– It’s not the first time I’ve faced such circumstances. Injuries are an athlete’s greatest enemy. In the past, I was able to overcome some injuries and even play better, but now it wasn’t meant to be. I have wonderful memories from here. How long will the break be?

– I don’t know, I’ll see when I get back to Europe. I still have Doha planned for the coming weeks. In the past, I recovered quickly, but we’ll see. It’s not like I’m thinking about injuries, but the statistics are against me in recent months. I don’t know what the reason is, maybe it’s multiple factors, but I’m moving forward, I want more Slams. That not everything was alright and that he couldn’t recover after the match against Carlos Alcaraz was already evident in the warm-up, for which Nole was 20 minutes late. You can read more about what happened during the warm-up in a separate news article. Djokovic struggled throughout the first set, both with his leg and with heavy breathing. In one break between games, he had to take pills and use an inhaler.

Source: Sportal Photo: AP Photo/Andy Wong