Dave Worsley: On Novak Djokovic retiring from the Australian Open Semi-Final

Published Jan 24, 2025, 7:33 AM

A shock withdrawal at the Australian Open for ten-time champion Novak Djokovic.

The Serb great sensationally withdrew after losing a marathon first set of his semifinal against second seed Alexander Zverev, in a tiebreak.

Meanwhile, the reigning men's champion faces a tricky match-up in his semifinal tonight.

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You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave from News Talks. It'd be.

Perfect.

I think this is it, this is it, It's over.

Can you believe it?

No, I can't worry. Well, it's very enough through to his.

First ever Australian Open in the most dramatic fashion.

Entering the list drop a bu no longer.

Yay so much.

And it is a stunned rod labor Arena.

Just stunned me. If you'd made that volley. Was he stopping?

Definitely not on the next point or the point after.

In one of the flattest finishes in semi final Grand Slam a history. That was a Novak Djokovic's pulling a pin after losing the tie breaker the first six. I competed well, but just got too much from physically. We're presuming. And this is what Alexander's very if his opposition said at the end of the match.

Now, the very first thing I want to say is, please you guys, don't do a player when he goes out with injury. Yes, I know, I know that everybody paid for tickets and everybody wants to see hopefully a grete five set match and everything, but You've got to understand Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given the sport for the past twenty years, absolutely everything of his life.

And Alexander's viriri was They asked, did he believe that young Djokovic was tiring, was getting injured?

Was there before the match or within the match? Did you have an idea that he was struggling to the point that he might not finish it? No, I actually thought it was quite a high level first set.

Wow, okay, no vacar front and seeing him, my friend, I know you don't like giving interviews, but you kind of have to this time. What do you make of the situation?

Well, I didn't. I didn't hit the ball since our Cars match, so until like an hour before before today's match. Yeah, I did everything I possibly can to basically manage manage the the muscle tear that I had, and yeah, medications and I guess the strap and the physio work helped to some extent today. But yeah, towards the end of that that first said, I just started feeling more and more pain and it was yeah, too much to I guess to handle for me at the moment. So yeah, unfortunate ending, but.

I tried and it finished. We are going now to Dave Worsley, media man at the Australian Open, longtime friend of the shows. Oh mate, talking tennis, and just before we whip to him, looking down the barrel of a gun, Drosky and Route lift. They are just about to be beaten, you would think. In the semi final of the women's double say and Ostapenko letting seven six three six, but they're up forty love in the decider it is five to three. Executive producer Andy, do you mind if I just hang around like a bad smell for a couple of minutes to see if we can just knock this particular game off. There's a shadow that goes right up the middle of the court as well, which must be very very difficult to deal with. That's almost impossible to see. How is that right? And just AnyWho three match points for the opposition on their serve and it's gone out. I can't see what's happened there? Typical right, let's get today, Worsley. I could do this all night evening, Dave, Yeah, men, Darthy Strange tenor evensa over in Australia. Their eyeballing it first a hand first out, the w's the upshot, Novakan's come out and explain that strange walk off if you will encapsulate what happened.

What happened was all, well, that's the first set against Viev and that was always going to be an exciting match, but well it ended up being just one set and that was it. Unfortunately, there was Vedev having to take that first set, there was a tough one as well into the tie break there and no Djokovic having to come off with an injury that he's had over the last few days. He had it pretty bad against al Karaz managed to survive that match and with it, didn't practice for the next two days. Beg and yet not practicing at all meant he said, to walk off. He said he couldn't go for it much longer. It was asked, if you had a one at first set, would you have been able to play through enough strength to carry on? He said, well, it came pretty much straight into the press conference, he said, I doubt I survived for very much longer. I've been able to play even if you had won that first set.

It's not unusual. It's just not a regular occurrence that players do do that. They seed to injury, and especially a guy's along in the teeth, but like it's the end of his career, do you think maybe he put a bit.

Of stick in or well there was another question that was just asked at the first conference, is still in it? And it was asked, well, you know, quite a difficult question to ask, are you coming back? No back? Will you come back to Melbourne again? You've had such great success here, had ten wins and pretty amazing record. And he said, it's a good question, and it is a question, and we'll just have to see because I've done so well here and I love coming here, but we will have to wait and see. So he didn't say yes or no, kind of let the door open lightly. But it's whether or not he will actually come back. I'm not too sure thirty seven. Now he's this is the tournament that he feels he can win the most out and then perhaps Wimbledon next. Yeah, it was always going to be a tough one though for him. He was in the drawer he had to beat the third seed Carlo Falcarez, where he had to beat the second seed dedef and potentially if he had one that probably the top seed, so three two what not exactly an easy way to win you title? In Melbourne, the crowd.

Didn't exactly react in a pleasant manner. It's very defended Novak understandably. So why do you think they were so upset? Isn't this four casts? He was broken? Right, he was broken. We knew that he was coming in with an injury.

Well, some of them paid a lot of money to see tennis and they got one set, albeit quite an entertaining set and quite full on and lots of good play. But I guess when you do pay that money, you're hoping to see a five set. Everybody wants to see a five setter. No one wants to see an injury or retirement because well it makes it difficult for the person who won lit alone a person who lost. And you're there as the crowd saying, well, that was my afternoon at tennis.

Isn't that a case of bier beware though, Dave? Really, I know they're upset and disappointed, But do you think that Novak deliberately when I can't do this anymore and walked off like ripping the punters off or.

No, I mean that's the thing. I mean, people have sort of chill out a little bit. Yes, you spent money, but you were watching a sporting contests. Someone can win easily, if someone can win in a difficult way, so you can have your planet that you want to win win or you can someone else with. That's what sport is, and if you try and change that world, then it's no longer sport of it.

Did it really signed during that first set that things were going to go pretty calamorous because and they stopped really fast. It was almost like there was an agreement beforehand, like if I'm really struggling that let's just shake hands and get out, because in a real underwhelming into a dinner, it's very odd.

Yeah, I think it's someone's got to retire into it. And did you want to see them do something spectactular? And there it is. I can see that injury. Well, you couldn't understand occasion. But it was a key to it that he didn't practice the last two days. Now every tennisial have practice, including an hour or so before they played, so that was a bit of a there that he was struggling with it more so than perhaps we felt, because he did manage to come through the acaas contest very nicely, you know, just one of those things, and unfortunate for a champion players such as a thirty seven year old mother Djokovic to actually have to withdraw. We had said that he had no idea at all about how bad it was, and no idea at all during that during that set.

It's very hasn't had the time there on the court. I don't know if that's good or bad. When he comes up against a monster or Trump, presuming it will be center in the final, I shouldn't get a hit him myself, but the way he's playing right and now, it'd be hard to see him getting beat by the American.

Yeah, that's right, I mean. And Shelton as that I've said on court, well, Ben Shelton's going to serve two hundred and forty k's and Sinner's going to return just as hard. So it should be an entertaining contest as such, in the sense that Shelton is entertaining. He dives all over the court, he serves hard, and he's enthusiastic, whereas Sinner was one of the last two Grand slams US Open and here as well, so on hard courts, he's pretty difficult to beat and was pretty decent in his last match that he won as well.

So when it comes to the final, whoever it's against, do they have a stinct disadvantage that Zveriv has only played the one seat or an advantage that he's only played the one seat.

I don't think it really matters too much. I mean, sometimes you want to play less time on court. It hasn't been hot at all. It's been quite cold and windy actually here in Melbourne over the two weeks. I don't think it matters enough. He can practice a lot, sure matches of a different that was a tough first set as well. You had to play well. No, I don't think there's too much in it in this occasion. When it comes to the final, you are prepared to play seven matches to win this tournament, and that's the hardest thing of playing well, not so much day after day, but just getting your body adjusted to actually play those matches.

Dave Bose, are you coming out of Melbourne? Thanks so much for that update. You look after yourself and enjoy the rest of the weekend that.

Worris thank you for more From Sports Talk.

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D'Arcy Waldegrave lives and breathes sport. He loves motorsport and revels in the torment of being a 
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