Andy Murray believes it is ‘unfortunate’ that Novak Djokovic has had to withdraw from the Australian Open due to injury.
The tennis legend lost the first set 6-7 (5-7) to Alexander Zverev on Friday morning before then pulling out of the match altogether.
Djokovic sustained the injury, a muscle tear, during his gruelling victory over Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday.
And Murray, who was part of the Serb’s corner for the tournament, has now opened up on the 24-time Grand Slam winner’s decision.
Andy Murray believes it is ‘unfortunate’ that Novak Djokovic has had to withdraw from the Australian Open due to injury
REUTERS
The British tennis legend, who won three majors during his own career, labelled it ‘unfortunate’.
And he also insisted that Djokovic did everything to play through the pain, saying: “I think he was always going to go out there and give it a good shot.
“He obviously didn’t train the last couple of days.
“He practised right before the match and was feeling good enough to give it a go. It was an unfortunate way to finish.
“The match that he played against Alcaraz was some incredible tennis, amazing to watch from the side from that close, it was an amazing performance.
“He’d been getting gradually better as the tournament was progressing I think. It’s obviously a really unfortunate way to finish.”
Murray struggled with injuries towards the end of his own career.
And he’s expressed sympathy for Djokovic, adding: “Yeah, it’s hard.
READ MORE:Tom Brady and David Beckham teased as Ryan Reynolds admits to overstepping the mark
“When you get to that stage of the tournament, you feel like you’re getting very close to something very special, and it’s unfortunate if the body’s not responding in the way that you would like.
“With Novak there’s always hope with him because of how great a player he is and has found ways out of difficult situations before. It just wasn’t to be this time.”
On potentially working with Djokovic again in the future, he stated: “Me and Novak agreed that after the tournament we would speak.
“We’ll do that.”
LATEST SPORTS NEWS:
Andy Murray will discuss his future with Novak Djokovic now the Serb’s Australian Open campaign is over
REUTERS
Djokovic, meanwhile, has fuelled talk that he could retire and may have played his last Australian Open match.
“I don’t know. There is a chance. Who knows? I will have to see how the season goes,” he said.
“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.”
He did, however, insist that he’d ideally love to return to the Rod Laver Arena in pursuit of a record-extending 11th Australian Open title.
Novak Djokovic may have played at the Australian Open for the last time
REUTERS
“I normally like to come to Australia to play. I’ve had the biggest success in my career here,” he continued.
“So I’m fit, healthy, motivated. I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t come. But there’s always a chance, yeah.”