WIMBLEDON, England — When Alex de Minaur heard a crack near the end of his fourth-round match on Monday, he immediately knew something was wrong. The 25-year-old Australian had just reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time in his career, but from across the court he appeared to be telling his team in his player’s box that he couldn’t play.

The ninth seed, de Minaur, withdrew from his quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic after tests on Wednesday morning revealed he had torn cartilage in his hip, meaning the 37-year-old will miss out on a place in the semifinals.

Djokovic will face either 13th-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States or 25th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy on Court No. 1 on Wednesday afternoon.

De Minaur is a genial tour veteran in the midst of perhaps his best season ever, having reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and again on the clay courts of Monte Carlo, one level below the Grand Slams.

Instead of playing Djokovic, he will join a long list of players who have withdrawn or been forced to withdraw due to injury in the past two weeks, including third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys and Grigor Dimitrov.

Is there one player who is in good shape? That would be Djokovic. Despite having surgery on June 5 to repair a torn medial meniscus in his knee, he is still looking to join Roger Federer’s eight Wimbledon titles (the most for a man) and his 25th Grand Slam title, the most for a man or woman combined. Djokovic is currently tied with Margaret Court, who won most major titles before the Open Era began in 1968.



Source

Share.

TOPPIKR is a global news website that covers everything from current events, politics, entertainment, culture, tech, science, and healthcare.

Leave A Reply

Exit mobile version