Andy Roddick makes his feelings known about Novak Djokovic's Australian Open injury status

Novak Djokovic will face Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open men’s singles semifinals and former World No. 1 Andy Roddick has given his take on the Serb’s suspected groin injury.

Djokovic fought back from a set down to beat third seed Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals but raised concerns of a suspected groin injury as he struggled on the court for large parts. The Serb opted for a medical timeout in the first set and got some taping on the upper thigh of his right leg to regroup and clinch a stunning victory.

Reacting to the injury and the impact it had on the Serb’s game, Roddick said all the injury talk around Novak Djokovic would hold only if he struggled against Zverev on the court, but based on how he played the final two sets against Alcaraz, there was not much to worry about.

"All these could be a moot point if he comes out and can't move (against Zverev). But let's assume that he can because he has, we saw the last two sets against Alcaraz and he was in full flight. I mean, not only was it not compromised, it was as good of movement as I've seen in 18 months," said Roddick on his podcast titled Served With Andy Roddick. (21:25 onwards).

With Novak Djokovic himself not revealing much about his injury in his post-match chat, Roddick felt it was best to not speculate beyond the fact that it affected Djokovic's right leg.

“We don't know what we don't know. Novak, we could see his movement was compromised and then it wasn't. I don't know how much of a factor that's going to be. He did not want to talk about it and explain. I don't know that we know exactly what the injury is besides pain in a leg,” added Roddick

Djokovic reportedly chose to skip training sessions on Wednesday and Thursday in the run-up to the semifinals, indicating that he took time out to fully recover and rehab from the niggle he had picked up earlier.

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Novak Djokovic has the H2H advantage against Alexander Zverev

Djokovic, who has 24 Grand Slam titles, is on the hunt for a record 11th Australian Open title and Zverev stands between him and the final. The Serbian star has the advantage going into the match as he’s beaten the German eight times and lost four. It was Novak Djokovic who won their previous match at the 2023 Cincinnati Open.

Novak Djokovic celebrates beating Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 Australian Open. Source: Getty

Another stat that favors Novak Djokovic is that he has only lost once, ever, in the semifinals of the Australian Open, which is a testament to his dominance of the Melbourne Major.

Furthermore, second-seeded Zverev has never beaten Djokovic at a Grand Slam, so the advantage firmly rests with the Serbian going into this contest.