Djokovic: "Maybe if I'd won the first set, I'd have tried to keep going".

Novak Djokovic was forced to retire against Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

After a hard-fought set, lost by the Serb in the tie-break, he decided to retire due to a muscle tear.

Injured since his match against Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals, Djokovic had not touched a racket since then.

He told a press conference: "I haven't touched a single ball since my victory over Alcaraz until an hour before the match against Sascha.

I did everything I could to control the muscle tear, with medication and physiotherapy.

Towards the end of the first set, I started to feel much more pain - it was too much.

Maybe if I'd won the first set, I'd have tried to keep going, but the problem deteriorated quickly, so I couldn't stay on court any longer.

I thought maybe with two days' rest it would be enough, but it wasn't."