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Novak Djokovic admitted there is a “chance” he has played at the Australian Open for the final time after retiring injured from his semi-final against Alexander Zverev but says he remains motivated to chase further titles.
The 37-year-old, who was bidding to win a 25th grand slam and become the oldest men’s champion of all time, conceded the match after losing the first-set tiebreak to Zverev, to a chorus of boos on the Rod Laver Arena.
Djokovic sustained a muscle tear in his upper left leg during his quarter-final victory over Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday and admitted he did not have anything left in the tank after attempting to play through the pain.
The 10-time Australian Open champion has now exited the tournament in the semi-finals for the second consecutive year, while last year’s French Open run was also ended by injury after sustaining damage to his knee ligaments.
Djokovic turns 38 in May and although he wants to keep playing he acknowledged his chances of returning to Melbourne in 2026 depends on whether he is able to commit to a more regular schedule this season.
“I don’t know, there is a chance,” Djokovic said when asked if he might have played his last match at the Australian Open. “Who knows? I’ll just have to see how the season goes.
“I want to keep going. But whether I’m going to have a revised schedule or not for the next year, I’m not sure. I normally like to come to Australia to play. I’ve had the biggest success in my career here. So if I’m fit, healthy, motivated, I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t come. But there’s always a chance, yeah.”
While Djokovic confirmed that he had suffered a muscle tear, the Serbian did not know how long he is likely to be ruled out for.
Djokovic, who has performed rapid recoveries from injuries in the past, such as before last year’s Wimbledon, said he would undergo scans when he returned home and did not rule out playing in the Qatar tournament in February.
“How much of a worry is it? I don’t know. It’s not like I’m worrying about approaching every grand slam now whether I’m going to get injured or not, but statistics are against me in a way in the last couple of years,” Djokovic said.
“So it is true that, you know, I’ve been getting injured quite a bit last few years. I don’t know what exactly is the reason for that. Maybe there are several different factors. But I’ll keep going. I’ll keep striving to win more slams. And as long as I feel that I want to put up with all of this, I’ll be around.”
Djokovic played through a leg injury to win the Australian Open two years ago but said the pain was different this time. He admitted after beating Alcaraz that he would have considered retiring from the match if he had lost the second set and was unable to face coming from behind to beat Zverev after an 82-minute opener.
“I didn’t hit a ball since Alcaraz match, so until like an hour before today’s match. I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had, medications and the strap, and the physio work helped to some extent today,” Djokovic said.
“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. Unfortunate ending, but I tried.
“If I won the first set, maybe I would try a few more games, half a set, maybe a set. I don’t know. It was getting worse and worse.
“I knew even if I won the first set, that it’s going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies, you know, for another God knows what, two, three, four hours. I don’t think I had that, unfortunately, today in the tank.”
