{"id":21627,"date":"2025-01-24T03:01:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T03:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21627"},"modified":"2025-01-24T03:01:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T03:01:28","slug":"breaking-novak-djokovic-makes-decision-amid-australian-open-withdrawal-rumours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21627","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : Novak Djokovic makes decision amid Australian Open withdrawal rumours ."},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Liam Grace<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Published<\/strong> January 23, 2025 5:37pm <strong>Updated<\/strong> January 23, 2025 5:38pm<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Novak Djokovic made the decision to miss another training session on Thursday amid rumours he could withdraw from the Australian Open.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic, set for a semi-final showdown against Alexander Zverev on Friday, picked up a nasty left leg injury in his win over Carlos Alcaraz.<\/p>\n<p>The 37-year-old Serbian tennis legend hasn\u2019t trained at Melbourne Park since, deciding to skip practice for the second day in a row on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>That has intensified rumours that Djokovic could withdraw from the Grand Slam tennis tournament ahead of his battle with Zverev in the last four.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic had booked Court 16 for a 90-minute training session with coach Andy Murray but then dramatically cancelled the reservation this morning.<\/p>\n<p>He has now booked the same court for 1pm on Friday in a final attempt to get himself fit, just 90 minutes before his scheduled start against Zverev.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic, hoping to land a historic 25th major title, required strapping and painkillers in his quarter-final win over Alcaraz on Tuesday and admitted he was \u2018concerned\u2019 over the leg problem in his post-match press conference.<\/p>\n<p>It should be noted that Djokovic has previously successfully defied tournament-threatening injuries, though, and may be able to play through the pain against Zverev.<\/p>\n<p>At the Australian Open two years ago, Djokovic claimed he had a 3cm tear in his left hamstring, wearing strapping for every match until he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final to land the title.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic\u2019s fans are convinced that he will not withdraw from the 2025 tournament ahead of his semi-final with Zverev.<\/p>\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Novak Djokovic v Carlos Alcaraz Extended Highlights | Australian Open 2025 Quarterfinal\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Up7jxaRYt1o?feature=oembed\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p>One supporter, @DjokovicFan_, shared four reasons on social media why he thinks Djokovic will be fine to take on the German on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018[Djokovic] had said after his last match that he was going to skip practice to prioritise rest and recovery,\u2019 he posted on X. \u2018He is [also] taking every precaution to make sure whatever happened does not happen again or get worse.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He has skipped practice many times in majors these past few years. He\u2019s 37 and needs his rest too. He looked very good against Alcaraz from sets 2-4. It is almost impossible to beat Alcaraz with a serious injury as Alcaraz is just way too physical and good. I am confident he will be ready.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, tennis icon John McEnroe faced criticism this week for suggesting that Djokovic had faked his injury against Alcaraz to gain an upper hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018This isn\u2019t the first time we\u2019ve seen this routine,\u2019 McEnroe said. \u2018Don\u2019t be fooled.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz dismissed those comments, insisting it was \u2018obvious\u2019 that his opponent Djokovic was struggling with injury during their match.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I think everybody saw in the second set he\u2019s struggling a little bit moving,\u2019 Alcaraz said. \u2018I\u2019m not saying, like, he made a show. It\u2019s obvious and everybody saw it that he\u2019s struggling in the second set.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><span data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Iga Swiatek slammed for \u2018dirty tactics\u2019 in Australian Open loss to Madison Keys<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Australian Open tennis star Ben Shelton calls out disrespectful on-court interviewer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Pressure is growing on Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou and the Europa League is unlikely to offer any respite<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>He&#8217;s struggling with a left leg injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[111,45,28,43,22],"class_list":["post-21627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-australian-open","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-sport","tag-tennis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - 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