MELBOURNE: Austr­alian Open director Craig Tiley said he is confident Novak Djok­ovic will return to the season-opening Grand Slam next year after injury ended the 37-year-old’s challenge in the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.

Djokovic was jeered by some sections of the crowd when he retired due to a hamstring injury after losing the opening set to Alex­a­nder Zverev on Friday.

“There was some talk about Novak [not coming back] Novak will ret­urn,” Tiley said on Monday. “He leaves today and he’s with his family, his team left on Friday. “We’ll see Novak back and I look forward to catching up with him in the next couple of weeks.”

Djokovic took aim at his critics the day after his exit from the tournament, posting photos of an MRI scan of the injury on social media and Tiley was certain the Serb had done everything possible to be ready for the semi-final.

“He had a good warm-up that morning and his team were confident that he’d be able to get out there and play. He would do everything he possibly can to get on the court.”

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2025

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