MELBOURNE/STARNBERG, January 24, 2025

Alexander Zverev reached his first Australian Open final after Novak Djokovic retired following their semi-final match’s opening set on Friday in Melbourne. Djokovic, who lost the set 7-6(5), shook hands with Zverev to send the World No. 2 from Germany into his third Grand Slam final after finishing runner-up to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open and to Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros last year.

Djokovic, battling a muscle tear in his upper left leg, fought hard during the 81-minute opening set but was forced to retire after missing a volley on set point. Despite an impressive quarter-final victory over Carlos Alcaraz, where he played through the injury, Djokovic’s mobility was visibly hampered against Zverev, even as he managed to keep the set competitive.

Not how we wanted your campaign to end, @djokernole.

Thank you for another wonderful Australian summer. Well played and best wishes for a speedy recovery.#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/d5VJ6YNBeN

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2025

“I actually thought it was quite a high-level first set,” Zverev said during his post-match interview with Jim Courier. “But of course there is some difficulties and the longer you continue playing, then maybe the worse it gets. In the tie-break, he was maybe not moving as well as in the entire first set. But I thought we had extremely long rallies, extremely difficult, physical rallies. In the tie-break I did see him struggle maybe a bit more.”

Zverev, still in pursuit of his first major title, will next take on top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy who edged past Ben Shelton from the United States, 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 in two hours and 36 minutes.

“Grand Slam finals are always difficult, the two best players are playing. I lost twice in the final set so I’ve had my tough losses. I feel like maybe it’s time to have some luck in a Grand Slam final,” the World No. 2 said.