Novak Djokovic, seeded seventh at the Australian Open 20257xm, was booed off by the Rod Laver Arena crowd after the Serbian star retired midway from his semi-final clash against No. 2 Alexander Zverev on Friday, January 24. (Match Blog| Full Coverage)

The 37-year-old, who played through injury, took an hour and 21 minutes to lose the opening set 6-7 (5-7).

Six teams, namely India, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Japan and China are participating in the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 and the hosts are the lowest-ranked (23) team in the tournament. India's next opponent, Japan are ranked 15 in the world.

As Djokovic walked off the court, he was met with jeers from the local crowd to which he responded graciously. Djokovic, post-game, stated that the injury took a toll on his body, who was vying for his 25th Grand Slam title.

“I didn't hit the ball since Alcaraz match until like an hour before today's match,” Djokovic said Friday.

“I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had. Medications and I guess the (tape) and the physio work helped to some extent today. But towards the end of that first set, I just started feeling more and more pain and it was too much for me to handle. Unfortunate ending, but I tried,” Djokovic added.

The 37-year-old Djokovic was asked whether this might have been his last appearance at Melbourne Park.

“There is a chance. Who knows?” Djokovic said. “I'll just have to see how the season goes. I want to keep going.”

The No. 2-seeded Zverev reached his first title match at Melbourne Park and will face the winner of Friday's second semifinal between No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, the defending champion7xm, and No. 21 Ben Shelton of the United States.

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