Injured de Minaur hands walkover to Djoko

Alex de Minaur was forced to withdraw from his Wimbledon quarter-final with injury on Wednesday, sending seven-time champion Novak Djokovc surging into the semi-finals without firing a shot.

Australian ninth seed de Minaur injured his hip on Monday’s match point as he beat France’s Arthur Fils in the fourth round; Djokovic rolled Holger Rune in straight sets to earn his quarter-final place.

The 37-year-old Serb advances after making a bet on his own fitness after undergoing keyhole surgery on a knee ast month in Paris.

The 24-time grand Slam winner has lost just two sets so far at this edition.

“I’m devastated, I had to pull out due to a hip injury,” de Minuar said, describing his complaint as “a little tear of the fibre cartilage that connects to the adductor (muscle).

“I felt a loud crack as I slid out for a forehand (during one of the last three points (of the match). When I heard that crack I knew it would not be something good.”

“I got a scan Tuesday that confirmed the injury.”

De Minaur said he had an early hit on Wednesday hoping that he could have “woken up with a miracle” but later informed the Djokovic camp that he would not be able to take to the court.

“There was a high risk of making it worse if I was to have stepped onto the court,”

The Aussie said that while doctors remain unclear on exact healing time, they estimate something in the area of three to six weeks, putting the Paris Olympics starting July 26 in serious doubt.

“This is such a unique injury, a lot is based on my pain and depends on how quickly my body heals.”

De Minaur called the aborted showdown with Djokovic “the biggest match of my career. I wanted to do anything I could to play.

“I wanted to wake up today hoping that I would feel some kind of miracle.”

But he said reality set in: “one stretch, one slide can make this thing go from 3-6 weeks to four months. 

“It’s been two days of worrying and waiting for scan results. But in the grand scheme it could have been worse.

“I’ve been trying to hold onto that.”

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