Novak Djokovic Worryingly Cancels Practice Session Before Australian Open Semifinal
News
There are concerns about whether Novak Djokovic will be fully fit for his 2025 Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev after he canceled a practice session.
Djokovic struggled physically in the first and second sets of his quarterfinal battle against Carlos Alcaraz. The ten-time Australian Open champion took a medical timeout at 4-5 in the second set.
After continuing to move limitedly for most of the second set, Djokovic looked fine again in the third and fourth sets. Despite those issues, he won the second set after Alcaraz became distracted by his opponent's issues.
Not everyone was convinced that Djokovic's physical problems in the match were genuine. While commentating on the match, John McEnroe told fans watching not to be fooled by the Serbian's actions and that he had done such a "routine" many times before.
However, the news since about Djokovic indicates that McEnroe and others were wrong. The 37-year-old revealed in a press conference after beating Alcaraz that he had a leg injury and was concerned about it.
According to the Express, those concerns led to Djokovic skipping his practice session on Thursday. He had been due to hit for 90 minutes with his coach and former rival, Andy Murray.
Djokovic booked the same court for 1 p.m. local time on Friday, 90 minutes before his semifinal against Zverev starts. There is no indication that he will skip that session before the match.
Hopefully, Djokovic is just being cautious. Before such a crucial match, and at his age, he is more likely to take the safe option and not train if he is concerned about aggravating the injury.
Djokovic knows what it is like to manage injuries during tournaments. At the 2023 Australian Open, the 24-time Grand Slam champion said he had a large tear in his left hamstring, which would have caused many players to withdraw from the tournament.
That problem did not stop Djokovic from winning the most recent of his ten Australian Open titles in 2023. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final and spoke afterward about how incredible it was to win the title despite his injury.
Djokovic also had a knee injury during last year's French Open and Wimbledon. After reaching the quarterfinal, the three-time champion at Roland Garros felt he could not compete further and withdrew from the tournament.
A few weeks later, the former ATP world No. 1 played at Wimbledon with heavy strapping on his knee but still reached the final at SW19. Alcaraz handed Djokovic one of the most one-sided Grand Slam final losses of his career.
Djokovic's considerable success in winning or going far at events despite an injury has made some, like McEnroe, skeptical of how genuine those issues are. However, there is no evidence to back up those claims, and it seems unfair to Djokovic to make such assertions.
Alexander Zverev, looking to win a maiden Grand Slam title, would benefit significantly from Djokovic not being at 100% in their match at the venue where he has succeeded more than anywhere else.
