Serbian Tennis great Novak Djokovic qualified for the Wimbledon semifinals without playing his quarterfinal match against Alex De Minaur. Djoker received a walkover as the Australian withdrew due to a torn cartilage in the hip injury which he picked on the final point of his previous match against Arthur Fils on July 8.
Djokovic, coming off a meniscus surgery, will have three full days off to prepare before the semifinal on July 11 against the winner between No. 13 Taylor Fritz and No. 25 Lorenzo Musetti. Defending champion and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz will face No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in the other semifinal Friday.
Confirming his decision, Alex di Minaur released a statement revealing that playing the quarter-final could worsen his injury and could take months to recover. The statement said, “I am devastated to pull out due to a hip injury. It’s no secret that this would have been the biggest match of my career but it’s a unique injury.”
“I woke up this morning wanting to feel some sort of miracle, but there was a high risk of making the injury worse if I stepped on court. One stretch, one slide could take this from a three to six weeks’ injury to four months out. It’s just too much to risk.”