Alexander Zverev Says Injured Djokovic Requires More Respect After Australian Open Exit - UBITENNIS

Alexander Zverev Says Injured Djokovic Requires More Respect After Australian Open Exit

By Adam Addicott
6 Min Read
Image via https://x.com/atptour/

Alexander Zverev believes more respect should be given to Novak Djokovic who retired from their semi-final match at the Australian Open due to injury.

The world No.2 was leading Djokovic 7-6(5) before he quit their match due to a muscle tear in his left leg. His decision to retire came immediately after he hit a shot into the net when facing set point and he didn’t call for a medical time-out. Djokovic later explained that he might have continued playing if he won the opener but would have been unsure about how his body would have held up on the court.

As the 10-time champion exited the court, he received a large outburst of boos from the Melbourne crowd. Prompting him to respond by putting both of his thumbs up and clapping towards those making the noise.  Zverev tried to ease the atmosphere during his on-court interview by asking fans not to jeer at a player who is injured.

When asked if he would have handled the situation differently if he were in Djokovic’s position, the German swiftly jumped to the defence of his peer.

“Novak knows his body better than anyone else. Simple as that. What is a doctor going to do?” Zverev said during his press conference.

“I know from his team he was already on painkillers. He knows that it’s an injury that he had before. At some point There’s a limit also on how much you can take.

“I think we should stop blaming Novak. Novak has done absolutely everything he could on the tennis court in the last 20 years. He’s won this tournament with an abdominal tear where most players can’t even continue playing. He’s won this tournament with a hamstring tear. He’s a ten-time champion.

“I think we should all just respect that in a way, because there’s nobody in this sport’s history who has won and who has done as much as him.”

Zverev says he has sought advice from Djokovic in the past and spoke with him ‘for hours’ in Shanghai last year about his difficulties on Tour. Last season at the French Open he led Carlos Alcaraz by two sets to one in the final before losing. Then at the US Open, he was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Taylor Fritz.

“I was just asking him how it was for him when he was having difficult moments, 2016, ’17 and all that, how he was coming back. He was always very open to me.” He said.

“We had very long chats there. We practiced quite a lot together in Shanghai, funny enough. He was just talking to me about his situations and about his experiences with difficult times.”

Another major final

It is the third time Zverev has reached a Grand Slam final but the first time he has done so at Melbourne Park. In the tournament’s history, only two other German men have reached the title match with the most recent of those being Rainer Schuettler in 2003. Although Zverev has won more matches (31) than any other male player from his country at the event.

Seeking his maiden Grand Slam title at the age of 27, Zverev will be hoping to avoid another heartbreak. Besides coming up short against Alcaraz in Roland Garros, at the 2020 US Open, he led Dominic Thiem by two sets to love before losing in five.

In a bid to help end the drought, Zverev recently reunited with fitness trainer Jez Green who he believes has made a big impact.

“I was not with him when I got injured. So recovering from injury and coming back from the injury, I think the hard work needed probably to double and to go up even more to become the same level again,” he said.

“That was the reason why I hired him is to be physically at the same level again that I was and to be able to compete with those guys.

“After the French Open final, I got tired against Carlos. I simply got tired in the fourth and fifth set.

“I got tired and I didn’t want that to happen this year anymore.”

Standing in his way of the Australian Open title will be either world No.1 Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton. He has a winning head-to-head record against both players but he has only played Shelton once on the Tour compared to Sinner who has beaten in four out of six meetings.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a tough battle on Sunday no matter who it is,” Zverec concluded.

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