Novak Djokovic reveals what injury led to his shocking Australian Open retirement against Alexander Zverev

Novak Djokovic has revealed what led to his retirement decision in the Australian Open 2025 semifinal against Alexander Zverev. The Serb pointed at an unhealed injury in his post-match press conference.

Djokovic locked horns with second seed Zverev on Friday, January 24. The 10-time champion played a highly competitive opening set, which went his opponent’s way after a costly error in the tiebreak 7-6(5). Much to the surprise of the tennis world, Novak Djokovic went to shake hands with his opponent immediately after, signaling the conclusion of the match.

After a brief chat with Alexander Zverev, the 24-time Grand Slam champion packed his bags and waved goodbye to the Australian Open crowd.

In his post-match press conference, Novak Djokovic shed light on his injury that led to the unexpected decision. The Serb revealed that he suffered a muscle tear similar to the one he incurred during his 2023 campaign.

"I mean, look, it's a muscle tear. Two years ago, you know, I have managed it better. On the court it didn't bother me as much. This time that wasn't the case," he said.

"So in these kind of instances I guess have you to try to do as much as you possibly can in the shortest amount of time, and that was the case," he added.

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Novak Djokovic on his Australian Open 2025 semifinal retirement: "I did everything I possibly could"

The Serb pictured at the 2025 Australian Open - Image Source: Getty

Novak Djokovic showed the first signs of a left leg injury during his Australian Open quarterfinal against Carlos Alcaraz. He appeared visibly distressed but managed to push himself to the finish line with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 scoreline. He also requested a medical timeout during the match.

In the aforementioned press conference, he said:

"Well, I didn't hit a ball since Alcaraz match, so until like an hour before today's match."

The Serb added that he resorted to medications, a thigh compression sleeve, and physical treatments to alleviate the pain but to no avail.

"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," he said.

"But yeah, 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," he said.

This is only the second time that Novak Djokovic has fallen short in the Australian Open semifinals after his loss to eventual champion Jannik Sinner last year. Of the 12 semifinals contested, he went on to reach the final ten times, with a 100% success rate.