Daniil Medvedev has explained the decision behind his surprise retirement against Novak Djokovic in the Astana Open semi-final on Saturday. With the two players tied at 4-6, 7-6(6), the Russian went up to the net and cut proceedings short as the 21-time Grand Slam champion advanced to the final.
Djokovic will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final on Sunday following his walkover win over Medvedev, who revealed he pulled a muscle in Kazakhstan. “It’s the second time in my life I retired like this with a pulled muscle,” Medvedev said after retiring.
“So here, on the second point of the tie-break, I felt a little bit [of a] strange pop in my adductor. I first thought maybe it is cramp and after the point I was like: ‘No, probably not a cramp.’ And during the tie-break, I felt I can play like five, ten more points but that’s it. If I play one more set, you can do it, but you can probably miss half a year instead of one month.
“I actually have no idea what is fair, if I won, I would not play the final. I was like, ‘OK, I just try to hit some shots’. If I manage to win, well I cannot do anything, I will retire. If I lose, congrats to Novak, he’s still in great shape. Good luck to him in the final.”
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“It was such a close match, particularly in the second set. I would probably say he was a better player on the court in both sets. I was fighting and trying to find a way.
“I found a way to win the second, but I’m just sad for the tournament and for these people who were enjoying the battle, and for Daniil, that it had to end this way.”
Medvedev had been in impressive form at the event, as he did not drop more than three games in any set until he faced Djokovic, after straight-set wins over Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Emil Ruusuvuori and Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the final four before his unfortunate withdrawal.
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