Novak Djokovic withdraws from Serbia’s Davis Cup qualifier

Novak Djokovic has opted out of Serbia’s Davis Cup qualifier against Denmark. Djokovic suffered a muscle tear before the semifinal of the Australian Open and had to retire after playing a solitary set in the semis against Alexander Zverev.

The Serbian was struggling with the injury during his quarterfinal clash against Carlos Alcaraz. The 10-time Australian Open champion lost the opening set against the Spaniard but bounced back in the remaining three to stage a remarkable comeback.

“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.”

Djokovic was also booed by the Australian crowd when he decided to retire after losing the first set against Zverev. The Serbian 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.

Serbia captain Viktor Troicki admitted that the team is weakened by Djokovic’s absence but he showed his confidence in the team.

“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.

Serbia last won the Davis Cup in 2010 when they bested France in the final in Belgrade and Djokovic was part of the winning campaign.