Novak Djokovic admitted there is a “chance” he has played his last Australian Open after pulling out of his semi-final with injury.
The 10-time champion suffered a “muscle tear” in his upper leg during his win over Carlos Alcaraz in the last round and finished the match with the help of painkillers.
He did not train over the last two days and came out with his left thigh heavily strapped before conceding to Alex Zverev after losing the 81-minute first set.
Djokovic, turned and waved to the crowd in the Rod Laver Arena.- there was booing – before he left the scene of the greatest number of Grand Slam triumphs.
Asked if it could be his last Australian Open appearance, the 37-year-old said: “I don’t know. 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, yeah.”
Djokovic, 37, also pulled out of the French Open last year with a knee injury as he remains stuck on 24 Grand Slam titles – the record he shares with Margaret Court. So that is two of the last four Majors he did not lose on the court.
“How much of a worry is it? I don’t know,” he said. “It’s not like I’m worrying, approaching every Grand Slam now whether I’m going to get injured or not, but statistics are against me in a way in the last couple of years.
“So it is true that, you know, getting injured quite a bit last few years. I don’t know what exactly is the reason for that, you know Maybe several differently factors. But I’ll keep going. You know, I’ll keep striving to win more slams. And as long as I feel that I want to put up with all of this, I’ll be around.”
Andy Murray joined Djokovic’s coaching team for the first Grand Slam of the year, Asked if the arrangement will continue, the Serb replied: “I don’t know. You know, we both were disappointed with what just happened, so we didn’t talk about the future steps. We are so fresh off the court.
“I’ll definitely have a chat with Andy and thank him for being here with me. You know, give him my feedback, which is, of course, positive, and see how he feels and we make the next step.
“We are still hotheaded and disappointed, so it’s kind of hard to switch the page and start talking about what the next steps are. I think we both need to cool off a little bit and then we’ll have a chat.”
Djokovic gave an insight into his pre-match preparation – and said he would have pulled out even if he had won the first set.
“I didn’t hit a ball since Alcaraz match, so until like an hour before today’s match,” he said. “Yeah, I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had. Yeah, medications and, I guess, the strap, and the physio work helped to some extent today. But yeah, towards the end of that first set I just started feeling more and more pain. It was, yeah, too much, I guess, to handle for me at the moment. Yeah, unfortunate ending, but I tried.
“If I had 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.
“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.”
