Novak Djokovic could quit Australian Open through injury despite Taylor Fritz win

Novak Djokovic defeats Zverev to reach ATP finals last four

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Novak Djokovic was forced to overcome an injury to beat Taylor Fritz at the Australian Open. The world number one looked to be on the verge of retiring during the match after suffering a chest injury, but somehow limped through. 

However, he appeared to indicate he may pull out of the tournament due to the injury.

Djokovic said: “I don’t know, I know it’s a tear of the muscle so I don’t know if I’ll be able to recover in two days.

“I don’t know if I’ll step out on court or not.

“I’m very proud of my achievement tonight, let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Speaking about how he dealt with the injury, he said: “First of all I want to congratulate Taylor for a great fight. I’m sorry he lost the match today.

“I just tried to stay in there, I was hopeful whatever is happening there is going to feel better.

“Towards the end of the fourth it started to feel a bit better.

“Third and fourth sets I don’t know, I just served and couldn’t do a lot on the return, just going through my shots.

“This is definitely one of the more special wins of my life. It doesn’t matter what round it is, the circumstances to pull this win through is definitely something I’ll remember forever.”

The world number one suffered an injury to his chest during the third set when he was leading comfortably.

After suffering the injury, he appeared unable to move properly to the right or move around the court freely.

He was unable to hit forehand shots, and looked in serious danger of having to retire.

He had a medical timeout, during which he had an ointment rubbed onto his right lower rib.

Djokovic dropped the third and fourth sets, and appeared to be on route for a shocking defeat.

But he somehow managed to continue, and was perhaps aided by a break in play after 11.30pm local time.

Due to lockdown restrictions, fans had to leave the arena in order to be home by midnight, and both players were taken off.

That gave the Serbian star a brief break, during which he was able to rest and recover.

After returning to the court, he seemed a different animal and blitzed his way through the fifth set. 

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