Novak Djokovic drops bomb after shock Aus Open retirement

Novak Djokovic shocked the world after withdrawing from his semi-final, moments later he dropped a bombshell on the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic may have played his final match at Melbourne Park.

The 10-time Australian Open winner pulled the pin on his semi-final contest after a gruelling opening set against Alexander Zverev.

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The 37-year-old entered Rod Laver Arena with heavy strapping on the upper part of his left leg after sustaining the injury during his quarter-final clash with Carlos Alcaraz.

While Djokovic didn’t look anywhere near as hampered as he did at times against Alcaraz, the Serbian shocked the crowd when he retired moments after Zverev claimed the opening set tie-break.

The crowds shock quickly turned to anger as a chorus of boos echoed around inside the stadium before Zverev pleaded for them to not boo the 24-time grand slam champion.

And while fans were shattered at what had just taken place, it was shortly after during his press conference when Djokovic said it may have been his final time Down Under.

Djokovic waves goodbye to the Aus Open crowd. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

“I don’t know. There is a chance. Who knows? I will just have to see how the season goes,” he said.

“I want to keep going but whether I am going to have a revised schedule or not, we will see. If I am fit, healthy and motivated, I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t come.”

But the 24-time major champion, who is renowned for his remarkable flexibility and durability, acknowledged that as he is getting older, his body is starting to betray him more frequently.

“How much of a worry is it? I don’t know. It’s not like I’m worrying approaching every grand slam now whether I’m going to get injured or not, but statistics are against me, in a way, in the last couple of years,” Djokovic said.

“So it is true that (I have been) getting injured quite a bit last few years. I don’t know what exactly is the reason for that, you know?

“Maybe (there are) several different factors. But I’ll keep going. I’ll keep striving to win more slams. And as long as I feel that I want to put up with all of this, I’ll be around.”

That may be the last time we see Djoker. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Djokovic confirmed he had suffered a muscle tear which ultimately become too hard to ignore as the first set went on.

“I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had. Yeah, medications and, I guess, the strap, and the physio work helped to some extent today,” Djokovic said.

“But yeah, towards the end of that first set I just started feeling more and more pain. It was, yeah, too much, I guess, to handle for me at the moment.”

Djokovic said even if he had of won the first set he would have given it a shot in the second but said the injury was only getting worse.

“If I won the first set, maybe I would try, yeah, I don’t know, a few more games, half a set, maybe a set. I don’t know,” he said.

“It was getting worse and worse. I knew even if I won the first set, that it’s going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies, you know, for another God knows what, two, three, four hours.

“I don’t think I had that, unfortunately, today in the tank.”

Zverev advanced into the Australian Open final where he’ll play either Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton.

Originally published as Novak Djokovic drops bomb after shock Aus Open retirement