World No. 2 seeded Novak Djokovic has advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals after it was announced that his quarterfinal opponent, Alex de Minaur, was forced to withdraw due to a hip injury. According to Howard Fendrich The Associated Press, No. 9 seeded de Minaur withdrew from the tournament Wednesday due to a hip injury, allowing Djokovic to advance via a walkover.
The Australian divulged Wednesday that he heard a crack near the end of his fourth-round win over Arthur Fils on Monday. He attempted to practice Wednesday morning in hopes that he could gut it out and play, but he noted that he could barely walk and was told by doctors that he could potentially make the injury worse by playing, saying: “The problem with me going out and playing is that one stretch, one slide, one anything, can make this injury [recovery] go from three to six weeks to four months. It’s too much to risk.” Regarding his decision to withdraw, de Minaur said: “Obviously not an announcement I wanted to make, by any means. I’m devastated. It’s no secret that, at this stage of my career, this was the biggest match of my career. So wanted to do anything I could to play. I knew what the results were yesterday, but I still wanted to wake up today and feel some sort of miracle and not feel it while I’m walking.”
Djokovic, 37, is now in a Wimbledon semifinal for the 13th time in his career, tying the men’s singles record previously held by Roger Federer; he advances to the Wimbledon semis for a sixth straight time. Djokovic’s record 24 career Grand Slam singles titles include seven at Wimbledon, and with a potential win this year, he will tie Federer’s all-time record of eight.
Djokovic will now face 25th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in Friday’s semifinal after Musetti defeated Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz will meet in the other men’s semifinal on Friday.
Editorial credit: Victor Velter / Shutterstock.com
