Alexander Zverev says whether he thinks Novak Djokovic should have seen a doctor before retiring in their Australian Open match

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Novak Djokovic retired mid-match during his Australian Open semi-final with Alexander Zverev.

Tennis fans were expecting a thrilling day of semi-final action on Friday, but things didn’t quite pan out that way at the Australian Open.

Djokovic retired against Zverev during their semi-final, after losing the first set tiebreaker (5-7).

The Serb was booed off the court, as Zverev advanced to his first-ever Australian Open final.

Perhaps the retirement shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise, as Djokovic admitted he was ‘concerned’ about his fitness after going down with an injury during his quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz.

Nevertheless, fans weren’t impressed, as many questioned why the ATP Tour legend didn’t take the time to see the doctor on the court.

After the match, Zverev gave his thoughts on Djokovic’s decision not to call the doctor.

Alexander Zverev thinks people should ‘stop blaming’ Novak Djokovic after injury retirement in Australia

During his post-match press conference, Zverev was asked whether he would’ve acted differently should he have found himself in the same position as Djokovic.

“No, because Novak [Djokovic] knows his body better than anyone else, simple as that,” he said.

“What is a doctor going to do?

“I know from his team, because I talked to his team after the match, he was already on painkillers, he knows that it’s an injury that he had before.

“So, okay, he’s going to call the doctor. To tell him what, exactly? To take more pills?

“At some point there’s a limit also on how much you can take.”

Zverev went on to say that the Serb doesn’t deserve to be criticized for the retirement, especially after achieving all he has at Melbourne Park.

“I think we should stop blaming Novak,” he said.

“Novak has done absolutely everything he could on the tennis court in the last 20 years.

“I said it on court, 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, you know, so 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.”

“So I think, yeah, there’s nothing more to add.”

Novak Djokovic misses out on 100th Australian Open win

The Serb was no doubt focused on bringing home an 11th Australian Open title at this year’s tournament, but had he qualified for the final, he would’ve also racked up 100 wins at the event.

Djokovic now has a 99-10 record in Melbourne but will have to come back in 2026 to pick up number 100.

Before then, he has the opportunity to rack up a century at two other Grand Slam tournaments.

A win in the fourth round of the French Open, or the third round at Wimbledon would see Djokovic surpass 100 wins at each Slam, a remarkable achievement that only few can say they’ve achieved.

Djokovic’s defeat to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros in 2020 saw the Spaniard notch his 100th win at the tournament, eventually ending his career with 112 victories in Paris.

Roger Federer is the only other man to have hit the 100 mark, doing so at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

• Roger Federer won 102 matches at the Australian Open
• Roger Federer won 105 matches at Wimbledon

Only time will tell if Djokovic can finally get his 100th win in 2026 at Melbourne Park, but he’ll now set his sights on the French Open, which begins on Sunday, May 25.