Alexander Zverev through to first Australian Open final after Novak Djokovic retires

Alexander Zverev moved into his first Australian Open final after Novak Djokovic retired one set into their semifinal clash on Rod Laver Arena, 7-6 (5).

The former world No. 1 entered the court on Friday with his left thigh heavily strapped, having taken a medical time out during his quarterfinal win against Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday and sparking injury concerns.

After dropping the first set in a tiebreak after 81 minutes of tightly contested tennis, Djokovic walked over to Zverev’s side of the court and shook his hand, signalling the end of the match. The sudden turn of events left fans on Laver stunned and confused, with the 37-year-old’s sudden retirement met with boos and reluctant applause as the 10-time champion left the court.

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“The very first thing I want to say is please, guys, don’t boo a player when he goes out with injury,” Zverev told the crowd during his on-court interview with Jim Courier.

“You gotta understand, Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given the sport absolutely everything for the last 20 years in his life," he added.

“He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear, he has won this tournament with a hamstring tear. If he cannot continue a tennis match, it means that he cannot continue a tennis match. Please be respectful and show some love to Novak as well.”

Zverev, the No. 2 seed, awaits the winner between world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 21 seed Ben Shelton. He will be contesting his third Grand Slam final, having finished runner-up at the 2020 US Open and 2024 French Open.

"I lost twice in a fifth set... so I've had my tough losses," Zverev said. "I think it's time for me to have some luck in a Grand Slam final as well."

Though clearly hampered physically from the start of the match, Djokovic still stayed toe-to-toe with Zverev for an hour and 20 minutes. He struggled to connect on his first serve, hitting only 54% of those shots and struggling when Zverev yanked him about the court. But the Serbian stayed in the contest as Zverev’s often passive baseline game gave him plenty of opportunities to change direction for a winner, and he saved all five break points he faced.

The pair stayed on serve through the final point of the tiebreak, when Djokovic buried an open-court volley into the net to hand the German the first set and ultimately retired from the contest.

“I still think that I played a high-level set. I think we both did… It's not like it was a withdrawal from the get-go, and I would have had, what, four days off,” Zverev said, when asked how this abbreviated match would affect his preparation going into championship weekend.

“You don't want this feeling before a final. You want to be in a match rhythm.

“But, look, it is how it is. It's nothing that, of course, I wished for, but it happened. I'm obviously happy that I'm in a Grand Slam final again. I'm obviously happy that I have another shot at winning a Grand Slam.”