Alex de Minaur has pulled out of his Wimbledon quarter-final clash with Novak Djokovic, withdrawing with a hip injury.
The Australian star, who was seeded ninth at the All England Club, announced he was pulling out of the tournament hours before he and Djokovic were scheduled to play each other at Centre Court tonight.
The match would have been de Minaur’s first quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon. He made it that far at the French Open last month, too.
LIVE UPDATES: AFL great gets back in the ring
READ MORE: Mystery over Demon ‘scare’ as experts tip boilover
READ MORE: Clijsters’ last hope for ‘triggered’ Barty comeback
A downbeat de Minaur said it was obviously not an announcement he wanted to make.
“I’m devastated but I had to pull out due to a hip injury,” he said.
Alex de Minaur of Australia sits on the grass after a fall during his second round match against Jaume Munar of Spain at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy) AP
“A little tear of the fibrocartilage that kind of is at the end or connects to the adductor.
“I felt a loud crack during the last three points of my match against Fils and got a scan yesterday, and it confirmed that this was the injury, and with a high risk of making it worse if I was to step on court.”
He said doctors hadn’t been able to give him a definite recovery plan because it was such a “unique” injury, but it could be anywhere from three to six weeks, which would put him in doubt for the Paris Olympics.
“The problem with me going out and playing is that one stretch, one slide, one anything can make this injury go from three to six weeks to four months,” he said.
Alex de Minaur withdraws from his Wimbledon quarter-final against Novak Djokovic Supplied
“So it’s too much risk.”
The ninth seed said he wanted to do anything he could to play what would have been the biggest match of his career so far.
“I needed a miracle,” he said.
“That’s what I needed waking up this morning.”
Djokovic will face Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti on Friday for a berth in the final.
The second-seeded Djokovic has won seven of his men’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon.
– With Associated Press.