A devastated Alex de Minaur had hoped for a miracle when he arrived at Wimbledon on Wednesday but a freak hip injury has ended his dreams of winning the championship.
Due to play Novak Djokovic in the biggest match of his career on Wednesday, de Minaur knew as soon as he stepped on the practice court this morning that he would be no chance.
De Minaur injured his hip on his first match point in his fourth-round win over Arthur Fils and had hoped to play through it, but it was not to be.
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The world No.9 had heard a loud pop in the joint when sliding wide for a forehand in the latter stages of his Rd of 16 triumph and immediately feared the worst, though he was able to finish the match.
A specialist told him on Wednesday that the injury, which is a tear high on the adductor connecting to the abdomen, which would sideline him for at least three to six weeks.
The 25-year-old, who was downcast when discussing the blow shortly after midday at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, is now in a race against time to make the Olympics in Paris.
“I’m devastated but I have had to pull out to hip injury,” he said.
“I I felt a loud crack during the last three points of my match against Fils and got a scan yesterday and it confirmed that this was the injury.
“There was a high risk of making it worse if I was to take to the court.”
De Minaur, who is sitting at a live ranking of No.6 on the ATP Tour, said that he was advised he could miss four months if he attempted to play and the injury worsened.
The Sydneysider, who had reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time, was hoping to play in the Olympics for the first time but now does not know if it is possible.
“To be completely honest I don’t know,” he said.
“They have not been able to tell me a definite recovery time. It is such a unique injury. It’s based on pain a little and right now it can be anywhere from three to six weeks. It just depends on how quickly my body heals.”
De Minaur, who sits at what would be a career-high ranking of six based on a live estimate, said he was determined to at least test the injury on the practice courts at Wimbledon.
“It is no secret that at this stage of my career, it was the biggest match of my career. I wanted to do everything I could to play,” he said.
“Despite the results yesterday, I got the results yesterday and I knew what the results were yesterday but I still wanted to wake up today hoping that I would feel some sort of miracle and not feel a lot while walking.
“The problem with me going out and playing is that one stretch, one slide, one anything can make this injury go from three to six weeks to four months. There’s too much to risk.”
After making a superb volley against Fils to close out a hard-hitting fourth round affair, de Minaur was stony-faced as he walked stiffly to the net to embrace the Frenchman and while insisting later he would be “alright”, he was already concerned about what was to come.
“I haven’t really been able to enjoy what I’ve achieved this week because I knew as soon as I felt that pop, I knew something bad had happened,” he said.
“It’s been two days of worrying and waiting to see what the results showed. (But) in the grand scheme of things, it could have been worse.
“I have been struggling to sleep the last couple of days. I feel it walking, just hoping I would wake up and feel it a little bit less, or that I could at least go on court.
“But again, I think it’s almost disrespectful for me not to go on the court close to 100 per cent against someone like Novak because there’s no point in me going out there if I’m not going out there to try and win.”
de Minaur, who battled abdominal issues and osteitis pubis in the early stages of his career, said he had learnt not to try to press too hard when it comes to returning to the tour too soon.
“This is a completely unique injury that they’ve got very little research on,” he said.
“It’s more just hope, wait and see. It’s a unique injury that I’m hoping the pain goes down with a bit of rest, then ultimately it’s working against the clock to get back as soon as possible.”
Djokovic will be playing in his 13th Wimbledon semi-final and 49th at the Grand Slams and will face either Taylor Fritz of the United States or Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti for a place in Sunday’s championship.
As a result of de Minaur’s withdrawal, 2021 Wimbledon champion Ash Barty will instead take some of the spotlight at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, with her legends doubles with Casey Dellacqua rescheduled to Centre Court.