Novak Djokovic left the court with his physio during his Australian Open quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz, sparking concern over an injury.
The world No. 7 appeared to grimace after points, and after being broken, he found himself down 5-4 as Alcaraz served for the first set. Djokovic called for the trainer, seemingly indicating an issue with his groin, before heading off Rod Laver Arena for a medical timeout.
Heading into the quarter-final, Djokovic was the underdog as the seventh seed, facing off against world No. 3 Alcaraz. He broke immediately at the start of the match, but Alcaraz quickly leveled the score, and Djokovic began showing signs of struggle. He expressed frustration toward his box and seemed to have difficulty moving after some rallies.
After being broken again, Djokovic called for the physio as both players returned to their benches for the change of ends. The trainer came on court briefly before they both left for the locker room.
Commentator Naomi Cavaday remarked, “It’s not surprising to see the physio come on, it feels like a bit of a struggle for Djokovic right now,” while Tim Henman noted, “He was touching his groin area, going off the court.”
The physio assessed Djokovic off-court, and the umpire announced that Djokovic would be taking a medical timeout. As the 37-year-old made his way down the tunnel, Cavaday added, “It must be affecting his backhand because he’s really been struggling on that side.”
Alcaraz, waiting at his bench, knew the first set was within his grasp as the medical timeout continued. He kept warming up with some shadow swings, prepared to seize the set when play resumed.
Upon his return, Djokovic had heavy strapping on his left thigh. Alcaraz quickly closed out the first set 6-4.
The medical attention seemed to help Djokovic, who surged to a 2-0 lead in the second set. However, Henman observed that the Serb still didn’t seem “comfortable” on his left side. Djokovic altered his tactics, using a kicker serve and serving-and-volleying off his second serve, likely to shorten the points and avoid longer rallies.
As with the first set, Alcaraz responded and broke Djokovic’s serve to level the score. But Djokovic held firm, breaking Alcaraz in the final game to take the second set 6-4.
