Defending champion and No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic is out at the US Open. As ESPN reports, the 32-year-old retired from his match against Stan Wawrinka after shoulder pain made continuing on impossible. He was trailing 6-4, 7-5, 2-1 before he ultimately decided enough was enough.
“The pain was constant for weeks now,” Djokovic said in his press conference later. He added that he didn’t take the chorus of boos from spectators at Arthur Ashe Stadium as he left personally. “I’m sorry for the crowd,” he said. “Obviously, they came to see a full match, and just wasn’t to be. I mean, a lot of people didn’t know what’s happening, so you cannot blame them.”
He said he’s been “taking different stuff to kill the pain instantly; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Despite this setback, Djokovic told reporters he plans on bouncing back and returning as soon as possible. “It’s a long road ahead hopefully for me,” he said. “I hope I can play for many more years. I’m planning to. I mean, I don’t see an end behind the corner at all. Now it’s a matter of keeping my body and mind in shape and trying to still peak at these kind of events that are majors and that are the most significant in our sport.”
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