Djokovic retired against Zverev after just one set of their encounter, still struggling with the injury he suffered in his quarter-final match with Carlos Alcaraz.

In the other semi-final Jannik Sinner beat Ben Shelton in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2, as he comfortably made his way through to the final in Melbourne for the second year running.

Sinner will no doubt be the favorite when he takes on Zverev, having won 35 of his last 36 matches on the ATP Tour.

Ahead of their big clash, Sinner took the time to give his thoughts on Djokovic’s mid-match retirement.

Jannik Sinner wishes Novak Djokovic a ‘speedy recovery’ after ‘unfortunate’ injury

During his post-match press conference, Sinner was asked what his reaction was to Djokovic’s injury.

“I haven’t seen, I was warming up, I didn’t see it live, I saw after, how it happened,” he said.

“It’s very unfortunate to see these kinds of things, especially in semi-finals of Grand Slams.”

Sinner went on to say that he understands Djokovic would only have retired if there was no other choice.

“But if Novak [Djokovic] retires, means that he has big issues,” he said.

“He has won here in the past with some physical problems, and he always tried to do his best.

“He gave so much until now in his career for this sport.

“It’s unfortunate to see, I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Only time will tell how long Djokovic will be on the side-lines for, but he did elude to a possible return date during his press-conference on Friday.

“I still have Doha tournament in few weeks’ time that is scheduled,” he said.

“Whether I’m going to play it or not, it really does depend on how quickly I recover.

“But I had success with quick recoveries in the past.

“Let’s see, it just depends on the muscle and how it responds to the treatment.”

The ATP Qatar Open in Doha is set to begin on February 17 and has an all-star line-up with several top-ten players scheduled to play.

The Middle Eastern fans will no doubt hope to see the two-time champion make his injury return at next month’s Qatar Open.

Jannik Sinner says he can ‘still improve’ as he wins 20th match in a row

Later in his press conference, Sinner was asked whether his mentality changed after becoming world number one in 2024.

“Not really,” he said.

“Obviously it’s a great position to be in, back of my head I also know that I’m 23 years old, and I am not perfect, no?

“I know that I have things still to improve. I have certain areas where I can get better. That’s why we work for, no?”

The Italian explained how he is striving to get better day by day.

“As I said before, every day is a big challenge,” said Sinner.

“Every day you have a different opponent, you try to understand what’s happening.

“Sometimes you have some issues and then trying to understand that whatever works best for that day and trying to go for it, no?

“Everyone makes mistakes, no? Nobody’s perfect, yeah, that’s it.”

The Australian Open final against Zverev is the next challenge for Sinner to overcome, someone who he’s struggled to get the better of in recent times.

• 2024 Cincinnati (SF) – Jannik Sinner beats Alexander Zverev in three sets
• 2023 US Open (R16) – Alexander Zverev beats Jannik Sinner in five sets
• 2022 Monte-Carlo (QF) – Alexander Zverev beats Jannik Sinner in three sets
• 2021 US Open (R16) – Alexander Zverev beats Jannik Sinner in three sets
• 2020 Cologne 2 (SF) – Alexander Zverev beats Jannik Sinner in two sets
• 2020 French Open (R16) – Jannik Sinner beats Alexander Zverev in four sets

Zverev leads the head-to-head with Sinner 4-2, having won their only two Grand Slam meetings on a hard-court.

Perhaps the German will look back to his win over Sinner at Flushing Meadows in 2023 for inspiration, as he secured a huge five-set win on Arthur Ashe.

Only time will tell if history will repeat itself as Zverev takes on Sinner in the Australian Open final on Sunday, January 26.

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