Novak Djokovic makes painful withdrawal from key event after Australian Open injury blow

Novak Djokovic has been forced to pull out of Serbia’s upcoming Davis Cup tie due to the injury that ended his Australian Open campaign.
The 24-time major winner suffered a leg muscle tear during his quarter-final match with Carlos Alcaraz in Melbourne.
Djokovic played through the issue to overcome Alcaraz in four sets, but he was unable to continue after losing a gruelling first set in his semi-final encounter with Alexander Zverev.
The 37-year-old has since confirmed he will not be able to feature in Serbia’s first round qualifier against Denmark, which will be played on January 31 and February 1 in Copenhagen.
The legendary Serb also admitted he is unsure whether he will play the ATP 500 tournament in Doha, which will begin on February 17.
“I will not play the Davis Cup, and the tournament in Doha in a few weeks is also still uncertain,” Djokovic told the Serbian media.
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Djokovic’s Davis Cup withdrawal is a big blow as he has made it clear that representing his country and winning Grand Slams are his priorities at this stage of his career.
During Serbia’s Davis Cup tie with Greece in September, Djokovic said: “Usually in my career I used to have my schedule ready six months in advance, but nowadays that’s not the case.
“Now it’s more spontaneous. Firstly, I need to physically, emotionally and mentally rest in order to even start thinking what I want to do next, in what way, how much and where.
“I am not chasing ATP Finals, I am not chasing the rankings. As far as I’m concerned, I am done with those tournaments for my career. Whether I will play others this year or in the future, I can’t say right now.
“My main priorities are playing for the national team and Slams. Everything else is less important. I said a million times how much it means to play for the national team.
“The way you show it is by, first and foremost, playing for the national team when you get the call, with fight, dedication in both practice and matches.”
After his retirement against Zverev in Melbourne, Djokovic spoke about his injury.
““I didn’t hit a ball since [the] Alcaraz match, so until like an hour before today’s match,” the world No 7 explained.
“I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had. Medications and, I guess, the strap, and the physio work helped to some extent today. But yeah, 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.
“It’s a muscle tear. Two years ago, I have managed it better. On the court it didn’t bother me as much. This time that wasn’t the case.
“So in these kind of instances I guess have you to try to do as much as you possibly can in the shortest amount of time, and that was the case.
“I had an extra day, so two days no match. So I thought it’s going to be good enough maybe. But yeah, that wasn’t the case, unfortunately.”