Novak Djokovic withdrew from Serbia’s Davis Cup first-round qualifier due to injury, the country’s tennis federation said Tuesday.
Djokovic, the world’s No. 6 player who was set to represent Serbia in its meeting with Denmark in Copenhagen beginning Friday through Monday, retired due to a hamstring injury in his Australian Open semifinal match against Alexander Zverev last week.
“I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had,” Djokovic said last week in Melbourne. “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.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was booed by the crowd at Melbourne Park. In response, not only did he put both of his thumbs up before leaving, but he also posted a photo of an MRI taken of his left hamstring on social media. “Thought I’d leave this here for all the sports injury ‘experts’ out there,” the post said.
Djokovic, 37, was part of the Serbian team which lifted the Davis Cup in 2010 following a memorable victory over France in Belgrade.
“We are weakened by not playing Novak, but we are still going for the win. The Danes have a great player in Holger Rune, but our players are also great and I believe in my team,” Serbia captain Viktor Troicki said.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.
