Zverev reach first Melbourne final as Djokovic retires

Alexander Zverev advanced to his first Australian Open final after Novak Djokovic retired following the first set of their semi-final showdown on Friday in Melbourne. Immediately after he lost a 7-6(5) opening set, Djokovic shook the hand of the No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, sending the German through to his third Grand Slam final. Seeking his first major crown, Zverev awaits Jannik Sinner or Alex de Minaur.

Struggling with a muscle tear in his upper left leg, Djokovic pushed Zverev throughout a one-hour, 21-minute opening set but could not battle on any longer after he missed a volley on set point. After overcoming his injury in an inspired quarter-final performance against Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic was clearly limited against Zverev despite keeping the scoreline close.

“I actually thought it was quite a high-level first set,” Zverev said when asked by Jim Courier if he noticed his opponent’s struggles. “But of course there is some difficulties and the longer you continue playing, then maybe the worse it gets. In the tie-break, he was maybe not moving as well as in the entire first set. But I thought we had extremely long rallies, extremely difficult, physical rallies. In the tie-break I did see him struggle maybe a bit more.”

Djokovic fought off five break points in the opening set, according to Infosys Stats, while creating three break chances of his own at 1-2, 0/40. The tie-break went entirely on serve until the final point, when the Serbian netted a routine volley with the court open.

The 37-year-old pushed through discomfort in many of the punishing baseline rallies, but appeared to conserve his energy on certain points, particularly on return. He played with full intensity in the tie-break, but was moving gingerly in between points despite matching his opponent point for point until the final ball.

“I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had,” Djokovic said after his bid for a 25th Grand Slam title and 100th tour-level singles trophy came to an abrupt end. “Medications and, I guess, 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, I guess, to handle for me at the moment.

“Yeah, unfortunate ending, but I tried.”

Even with the knowledge of Djokovic’s injury, Zverev said his mindset did not change entering the semi-final: “Not against Novak, to be honest,” he said. “I played him here in 2021 when he had an abdominal tear. and he served 28 aces against me. I have to play 100 per cent.

“I played probably one of my best sets of the tournament now with the first set, and I won 7-5 in the tie-break while he was injured. I don’t know, maybe I’m not that good, maybe Novak is too good for the sport. I don’t know what to say,” he joked.

Now 5-8 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Djokovic, Zverev through to his third major final after coming one set short of glory at the 2020 US Open and last year at Roland Garros. His three Grand Slam final appearances tie Michael Stich for second-most among German men in the Open Era, behind Boris Becker’s 10.

“It would be nice to win one more set than the first two that I’ve played,” Zverev added in his on-court interview. “Grand Slam finals are always difficult. The two best players in the world are playing on that court. I lost twice in in a fifth set, once in a fifth-set tie-break at the US Open. So I’ve had my tough losses. I feel like maybe it’s time for me to have some luck in a Grand Slam final as well.”