Djokovic Retires After One Set In Australian Open Semi-Final, Zverev Into Final
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Novak Djokovic won't win his 25th Grand Slam title at the 2025 Australian Open after he was forced to retire from his semi-final match against Alexander Zverev.
The two met 12 times before their semi-final meeting in Melbourne. Djokovic has generally had the upper hand in this rivalry, winning eight of those matches, but Zverev proved that he could beat his opponent as well in the past, winning four times against the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
But the circumstances ahead of this match were different. While the German player was coming into it well rested, not struggling a lot on his way to the semi-final, Djokovic's situation was different.
The 37-year-old player canceled his practice on Thursday, which was a worrying sign for this semi-final match, but he still made it to the Rod Laver Arena and competed against the second seed.
The first set of the match was a proper show. First, Zverev had four break points at 1-1, and after he couldn't use his chances, Djokovic had three chances to break in the following game. But neither of those were used either.
The German player then had one more break point at 4-4, but after he couldn't use it, the first set had to be decided in a tie-break. Both players held their serve without any issues, but that was only until the set point.
Djokovic constructed the rally very well, but he missed the final volley into the net, which meant he lost the first-set tie-break 5-7 in an hour and 20 minutes. It was shaping up to be a classic, but it ended sooner than most of the fans expected.
After losing the first set of the match, an injured Djokovic knew that he would still have to win three sets to win the match. He probably realized that he wouldn't be able to compete for another three or four hours, which is why he chose to retire from the match.
It certainly wasn't an ending he desired, especially after his stunning win over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals. Zverev, on the other hand, moved to the final match, awaiting the winner of the meeting between Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton.
Still, the atmosphere after the match wasn't celebratory. Despite certainly being happy about having another chance to win a major trophy, Zverev was clearly disappointed by Djokovic's retirement.
Speaking after the match, the German player had only nice words for his opponent, whose fans were still in shock.
"I'm happy on one side to be in the final of the Australian Open, I'm in a final of a Grand Slam. But on the other hand, I'm being 100% honest, there’s no guy on tour I respect more than Novak."
" He’s been one of my closest friends. Whenever I struggled, I could always text him, I could always call him. I could always ask him for advice. I was speaking to him for hours last year in Shanghai when I was really struggling mentally a little bit after the US Open defeat in the quarter-finals, and he's always someone who helped a lot. I have nothing but respect for him"
