Novak Djokovic is through to the semi-finals of Wimbledon after his quarter-final opponent Alex de Minaur was forced to withdraw with a hip injury.
Seeded ninth, de Minaur was due to face the seven-time Wimbledon champion on Centre Court on Wednesday. He told reporters he heard a crack towards the end of his fourth-round win over Arthur Fils on Monday.
“It’s obviously not an announcement I wanted to make, far from it,” said de Minaur, who realized he wouldn’t be able to play during a practice session Wednesday. “I’m devastated.”
“It’s no secret that at this point in my career, this was the most important game of my career. So I wanted to do everything I could to play. I knew what the results were yesterday, but I still wanted to wake up today and feel some kind of miracle and not feel it when I was walking around.”
“The problem with me going out and playing is that a stretch, a slip, anything, can make that injury worse. [recovery] “We’re going to go from three to six weeks to four months. It’s too risky.”
Djokovic will now face Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-finals on Friday after Musetti beat Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
This will be the 13th time that Djokovic has reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, tying Roger Federer for the most wins by a man in the tournament’s history.
Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz will meet in the other men’s semifinal on Friday.