So close, yet so far! Novak Djokovic felt two steps short of clinching his 11th AO title. He was forced to pull out of his SF match against the world number 2, Alexander Zverev. The match ended at 7-6 (5) in favor of the German. However, this isn’t the first time that we saw him struggling with some injury issues during the 2025 AO. Novak Djokovic was also seen complaining of a leg injury during his QF match against Carlos Alcaraz. Amid all these, he has now dropped a new bombshell in the tennis world. What is it?

He gave a hint of a possible retirement at the end of the 2025 season! During the post-match press conference, he was asked whether this was his last appearance at the 2025 AO. In reply to that, the Serb said, “I don’t know if there is a chance. Who knows? I’ll just have to see how the season goes and you know 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.”

The 25-time Grand Slam champion, further added, “I normally like to come to Australia and play. 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, you know. But there’s always a chance.” This is surely some worrying news for all the ‘Nole’ fans. Only time and Novak Djokovic can tell what’s lining up for all the tennis lovers after these twelve months. However, did he share any updates about his injury, though?

Well, last time after the QF match, Novak Djokovic was asked a similar question. However, he remained tight-lipped that time. Djokovic said, “Well now, since I’m still in the tournament I don’t want to reveal too much obviously but yeah the medication started to kick in and they helped.” Now, since he’s already out of this tournament, the Serb did share a few words on his injury.

We know Novak Djokovic prefers playing the night sessions rather than day sessions. It was a bright sunny day with soaring temperatures during the day session. He was seen struggling a bit in the searing Melbourne afternoon heat, and a probable muscle tear in the upper left leg had worsened the situation for this superstar.

While addressing all those probabilities and concerns surrounding his injury, Novak Djokovic said, “I didn’t hit a ball since [the] Alcaraz match, so until like an hour before today’s match. I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had. Medications and, I guess, the strap, and the physio work helped to some extent today. But yeah, towards the end of that first set, I just started feeling more and more pain. It was too much, I guess, to handle for me at the moment. Unfortunate ending, but I tried.“

Novak Djokovic was clearly seen struggling a bit with that muscle tear in his upper left leg, but still, he pushed Alexander Zverev throughout a one-hour and 21-minutes opening set! What did Alexander Zverev say about Novak Djokovic after this abrupt ending to this exciting battle?

“There’s no guy on tour I respect more than Novak (Djokovic)” – Alexander Zverev

This was Alexander Zverev’s thirteenth meeting with the Serbian. Although he would’ve wanted to go this a little deeper, he was seen to be quite happy sharing the stage with the 10-time AO champion. Shortly after this match during the on-court interview, the German was seen showcasing his respect and admiration for Novak Djokovic. He said, “There’s no guy on tour I respect more than Novak. He’s been one of my closest friends. Whenever I struggled, I could always call him. I have nothing but respect for him.”

He also spoke about how Novak Djokovic kept fighting till the end of the first set. Although he had knowledge of Novak Djokovic’s injury, his mindset didn’t change entering the SF clash. While recalling an instance from the past, he highlighted, “Not against Novak, to be honest. I played him here in 2021 when he had an abdominal tear. And he served 28 aces against me. I have to play 100 percent.“

Even Novak Djokovic was spotted showcasing his admiration for the German tennis star in his post-match interview. He even said that he’ll root for Alexander Zverev to win his first Grand Slam title. Talking about the upcoming major tournaments, Novak Djokovic said that he’ll keep striving to win Grand Slams, but what about the future of his partnership with Andy Murray?

Novak Djokovic added former played and arch-rival, Andy Murray to his coaching team for the 2025 season. However, shortly after his withdrawal from the 2025 AO, the Brit looked extremely disappointed and unhappy with the decision. So, when asked about the future of his partnership with Murray, Novak Djokovic said, “We are both were 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.”

He further mentioned, “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.” Even the fans inside the stadium didn’t look too pleased with his withdrawal. Perhaps, they wanted to see more action from this ‘magician’! However, little did they know that disappointing results would next bring a question mark to his tennis career. Do you think Novak Djokovic can win a major tournament in 2025?