Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic has acknowledged he may have dodged a bullet when Alex de Minaur was forced to withdraw from their Wimbledon quarterfinal on Wednesday.
The 24-time major champion, who practised with Nick Kyrgios on Thursday ahead of his semi-final against Lorenzo Musetti, has no doubt de Minaur presented a threat to him.
“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.”
A day after his withdrawal with a freak hip injury, de Minaur posted on social media that he was still heartbroken by an injury expected to sideline him for three to six weeks.
This puts his Olympics spot in extreme jeopardy and he also faces a race against time for the US Open.
“There’s nothing I wanted to do more than go out and compete my hardest but my body didn’t allow me to,” the world No. 6 said.
“(I’m) heartbroken and devastated. Thank you to all the support always. I will be back stronger than before.”
The other semi-final on Friday pits defending champion Carlos Alcaraz against former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev.
Italian Jasmine Paolini, meanwhile, has become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach consecutive major finals after following up her breakthrough run at Roland Garros with a stunning fortnight at Wimbledon.
The No. 7 seed edged Donna Vekic 6-2 4-6 7-6 (8) in a semifinal of high drama that lasted 2hr 51minto set up a final against 2021 Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova, who ousted 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 3-6 6-3 6-4 in 2hr 7min.
Their only meeting was in vastly different circumstances, with Krejcikova thrashing the Italian 6-2 6-1 in a first round qualifying match for the 2018 Australian Open when both women were ranked well outside the top 100.
Paolini, who had not won a match at Wimbledon before this year but is now closing in on becoming the shortest grand slam champion in the Open era, celebrated in style after her epic triumph.
“This match, I will remember it forever. It was a rollercoaster of emotions,” she said.
Krejcikova, who fell to Ash Barty in straight sets in the Rd of 16 at Wimbledon in 2021 after her triumph in Paris, said it was “unbelievable” to be in the final at the AELTC.
“It is very tough to explain what I am feeling right now but it is a lot of joy, a lot of emotions, but also a lot of relief, but I am just super proud, so proud of my game and my fighting spirit today,” she said.
There will be an Australian presence in the Wimbledon finals after Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell knocked out the No. 1 seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the semi-finals on Thursday.
The Davis Cup representatives fared well in singles in the lead-in to Wimbledon but were unable to bring that form to the All England Lawn Tennis Club when early casualties.
But they have paired together in brilliant fashion over the past week, with Purcell chasing a second Wimbledon doubles crown after a success with Matt Ebden in 2022 and Thompson his first grand slam title.
“One of our goals is to win a slam (and) to be in a grand slam final, I think it is probably the most special that it is at Wimbledon,” Thompson said.
“We both served well. We both returned well. We did everything quite well. It was a really clean match.”
Gold Coast teenager Emerson Jones, who was a runner-up in the Australian Open girls’ singles and is the No. 3 seed in the juniors at Wimbledon, is through to the quarterfinals.
A daughter of Athens Olympics triathlon silver medallist Loretta Harrop, the 16-year-old has dropped just ten games to date in three extremely impressive victories on the grass.