Daniil Medvedev has revealed that he heard a pop in his adductor which meant he had to retire from his Astana semi-final against Novak Djokovic.
For two sets, there was world class tennis on display as Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic went toe-to-toe for a place in the Astana final.
Medvedev was the more efficient player on return in the opening set as he played some of his best tennis of the season to take the first set 6-4.
Both players raised their games in the second set with Medvedev saving the only break point of the set in the second set.
There was clutch and effective serving from both players as the second set went to a tiebreak.
Djokovic initially took control of the tiebreak before the Russian came back into it and was within touching distance of winning the match.
However the 21-time Grand Slam champion converted his second set point to take the tiebreak 8-6 and roar in delight that he was back into the match.
That roar though would turn to confusion as Medvedev would retire from the match sealing Djokovic’s place in the Astana final.
Everyone was confused even though the fourth seed showed signs of discomfort in the tiebreak.
After the match Medvedev confirmed the reason behind his bizarre withdrawal, “It’s the second time in my life I retired like this with a pulled muscle,” Medvedev told the ATP website.
“So here, on the second point of the tie-break, I felt a little bit [of a] strange pop in my adductor. I first thought maybe it is cramp and after the point I was like, `No, probably not a cramp.’
“And during the tie-break, I felt I can play like five, 10 more points but that’s it. If I play one more set, you can do it, but you can probably miss half a year instead of one month.
“If I won, I would not play the final. I was like, ‘OK, I just try to hit some shots’. If I manage to win, well I cannot do anything, I will retire. If I lose, congrats to Novak, he’s still in great shape. Good luck to him in the final.”
The Russian will be hoping that the injury will not prove serious as he looks to strengthen his bid to reach the Nitto ATP Finals.
Meanwhile Djokovic also spoke about how surprised he was to see Medvedev retire, “I was surprised he retired the match. He looked completely fine,” Djokovic told the post-match interview.
“Maybe the last 6-7 points a bit slower. He told me he pulled his adductor muscle. I hope it’s not too serious. He was the better player in both sets.”
Djokovic will look to win his second consecutive ATP tour title when he takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.
