NOVAK DJOKOVIC retired from his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev following a gruelling opening set.
The Serbian, 37, overcame Carlos Alcaraz in the quarters, but saw no way back after losing an 90-minute opener 7-6 to Zverev.
Djokovic has been managing an injury during his run at Melbourne Park.
He took a medical timeout during the four-set Alcaraz match, and later revealed that if he’d lost the second set to the Spaniard, he may not have continued.
Today’s semi-final went with serve, before 6ft 6in Zverev managed to squeeze through the tie-break 7-5.
Djokovic subsequently went to shake hands with his opponent, much to the surprise of the capacity Rod Laver Arena crowd.
There were a smattering of boos as the 24-time Major champion left the court, to which he raised a sarcastic thumbs up.
Zverev will now face either world No.1 Jannik Sinner or American rising star Ben Shelton in Sunday’s final.
Managing his injury, Djokovic reportedly did not practise on Thursday, instead choosing to rest his body.
After the match, Djokovic revealed that he has been suffering from a muscle tear.
He said: “I did everything I possibly could do to manage the muscle tear that I had.
“Towards the end of that first set I just started feeling more and more pain. It was too much to handle for me.”
He went on to add: “I knew even if I won the first set, that it’s going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies for two, three, four hours.
“I don’t think I had that today in the tank.”
Zverev, meanwhile, admitted during his on-court interview that he’d been surprised when Djokovic retired from the contest.
He said: “I thought it was quite a high level first set. Of course, the longer you continue, the worse it can get and maybe he was not moving as well in the tie-break.
“Of course, I’m happy to be in the final of the Australian Open but, on the other hand, there’s no guy on the tour that I respect more than Novak.
“Whenever I’ve struggled, I could call him, ask him for advice. I wanted it to be a tough five-set match as well.”
Djokovic was coached in Melbourne by former rival Andy Murray.
It is unclear whether the pair will continue their partnership into the rest of the season.
‘WE ARE BOTH DISAPPOINTED’
Asked about their future after the match, Djokovic said: “We are both disappointed with what just happened, so we didn’t talk about the future steps.
“I’ll definitely have a chat with Andy and thank him for being here with me. You know, give him my feedback, which is, of course, positive, and see how he feels.
“We are still hot-headed and disappointed, so it’s kind of hard to switch the page and start talking about what the next steps are.
“I think we both need to cool off a little bit and then we’ll have a chat.”
NOVAK’S LAST AUSTRALIAN OPEN?
Djokovic also refused to rule out this being his final Australian Open.
He said: “I don’t know. There is a chance, who knows? I’ll just have to see how the season goes.
“I want to keep going but whether I’m going to have a revised schedule or not for the next year, I’m not sure.
“I normally like to come to Australia and play and I’ve had the biggest success in my career here so if I’m fit, healthy, motivated I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t come, but there’s always a chance.”
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