Zverev Reaches First Australian Open Final After Djokovic Retires in Semifinals

Alexander Zverev, ranked No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, reached his first Australian Open final after Novak Djokovic retired following a fiercely contested first set in their semifinal at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

After dropping the opening set 7-6(5), Djokovic walked to the net, shook Zverev’s hand, and retired from the match, handing the victory to Zverev, who advances to his third Grand Slam final. The win brings the Head2Head between the two players to 5-8. Zverev will now face in-form Jannik Sinner, who defeated American Ben Shelton 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2.

Djokovic was dealing with a muscle tear in his upper left leg, an injury he sustained during his match against Carlos Alcaraz. Despite the setback, he battled Zverev in an entertaining first set that lasted 1 hour and 21 minutes. However, his movement was limited, preventing him from playing at his usual level. After missing an easy volley that allowed Zverev to take the set, Djokovic was unable to continue.

Djokovic saved five break points and created three of his own during the set. The tiebreaker remained on serve until the final point, when the Serbian missed a routine volley with the court open, sending the ball into the net.

In his on-court interview, Zverev mentioned that his game plan stayed the same when he noticed Djokovic was struggling, emphasizing that he didn’t want to become complacent, as Djokovic has won matches in the past despite being injured.

“I played him here in 2021 when he had an abdominal tear, and he served 28 aces against me. I have to play 100 per cent.”

Zverev has been in exceptional form throughout the tournament, dropping just two sets in his six wins, with his only real challenge coming from Tommy Paul in a four-set quarterfinal.

The German is now through to his third major final, having previously lost in five sets to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open and to Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Roland Garros.

Djokovic was aiming for his 25th Grand Slam title and 100th tour-level singles trophy at this year’s event. In his post-match press conference, he spoke about managing the injury, saying, “I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had. Medications and, I guess, the strap, and the physio work helped to some extent today. But 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.”