Novak Djokovic has expressed his sympathy for Alex de Minaur after the Aussie’s withdrawal from Wimbledon, which handed him easy passage straight through to the semi-finals. De Minaur announced just hours before his scheduled clash with Djokovic in the quarters that he wouldn’t be able to compete, after suffering a hip injury in the previous round.
The Aussie star suffered the injury in the final game of his win over Arthur Fils – and the look on his face was a clear indication it was serious. De Minaur did everything in his power to try and play against Djokovic, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.
Scans have revealed de Minaur suffered a rare injury that there isn’t much research about, and he’s looking at between three and six weeks on the sidelines. It means he’s extremely unlucky to be ready for the Olympics in just two weeks.
Speaking ahead of his semi-final against Lorenzo Musetti, Djokovic expressed his support for de Minaur. “It is obviously not great for the tournament and it is never great to go through with a withdrawal of a player, and I wish Alex the best in terms of his recovery,” he told The Tennis Channel.
“We hope he can come back to the court. Some people were guessing whether it was an ankle, some people wondered whether it was a hip or an ankle and it is terrible. It is the biggest enemy of an athlete, injury, and I wish him a speedy recovery. He was in red hot form and it would be a really tough match for both of us. But it is what it is and I am moving on to the semis.”
Alex de Minaur devastated after withdrawal from Wimbledon
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, de Minaur was shattered. “I felt a loud crack during the last three points of my match against Fils, and a scan yesterday confirmed the injury and that I was at high risk of making it worse if I was to step on court,” he said.
“They haven’t been able to give me a definite recovery time because it’s such a unique injury. Right now, it could be anywhere from three-to-six weeks out, it just depends how quickly my body heals. One stretch, one slide or one anything could make this injury go from three to six weeks out to four months, so it was too much to risk.”
He described the injury as “a little tear of the fibre cartilage that connects to the adductor”, adding: “It’s devastating. No way to beat around the bush, I haven’t really been able to enjoy what I’ve achieved this week because I knew as soon as I felt that pop, something bad had happened.
“I have been struggling to sleep the last couple of days. I feel it walking, just hoping I would wake up and feel it a little bit less, or that I could at least go on court. But I think it’s almost disrespectful for me not to go on the court close to 100 per cent against someone like Novak. It’s more just hope, wait and see. I’m hoping the pain goes down with a bit of rest.”
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De Minaur can take solace in the fact he will rise to World No.6 when the rankings are updated on Monday. Only six other Australian men have ever made it as high in the 51 years of the ATP rankings system that was launched in 1973. Lleyton Hewitt, John Newcombe and Pat Rafter all made it to World No.1, while Ken Rosewall (No.2), Rod Laver (No.3) and Pat Cash (No.4) are the others.
Djokovic will take on Musetti on Friday night for a place in the Wimbledon final. The other semi-final will see Carlos Alcaraz clash with Daniil Medvedev.
with AAP