The former world number one, who would have regained top spot by winning the title, was down 7-6 (7-2) 2-0 when he withdrew with an elbow injury. Djokovic, 30, had treatment on a right shoulder injury during his last-16 win over Adrian Mannarino and needed further attention against Berdych. The Serb said he would consider whether surgery was needed to fix the injury.”I haven’t felt this much pain since I’ve had this injury,” said Djokovic.
“It’s not the shoulder; it’s the elbow that has kept bothering me for over a year and a half.”I was able, for 30 minutes, to play with some pain that was bearable, but the serve and forehand was shots where I could feel it the most. After that, there was really no sense [in continuing].” Czech world number 15 Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up, will face Roger Federer in the semi-final.
Djokovic had been set to play his last-16 match against Mannarino on Monday but it was delayed as Rafael Nadal’s match against Gilles Muller went to five sets and tournament officials decided to not move the Serb on to the available Centre Court. He beat Mannarino 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in Tuesday’s opening match but was the only men’s quarter-finalist not to have a day’s rest between rounds.
Against Berdych, Djokovic called a medical time-out after losing the first-set tie-break and received attention on his right arm before he withdrew. The three-time champion, who had looked to be back near to his best in the opening week, was trailing 7-6 (2), 2-0 when he called it a day, having had treatment to his right elbow at the end of the first set. It was a disappointing end to what had been a much-improved tournament for Djokovic after months of below-par outings but he may now have to miss the US Open and perhaps even longer to put right an injury which he said has been bothering him, on and off, for 18 months.
“The specialists that I’ve talked with, they haven’t been really too clear, mentioning surgery, mentioning different options,” said Djokovic, who later said in Serbian that the break could be longer than he has ever taken before. “Nobody was very clear in what needs to be done. As long as it kind of comes and goes, it’s fine. But adding up, maybe it worked for seven, eight, 10 months, but now the [last] seven months is not working that great. Obviously, it’s adding up more and more. The more I play, the worse it gets. I guess the break is something that I will have to consider right now.”
Djokovic said he had been feeling discomfort from the beginning of the tournament but having also had to play on Tuesday because of the rain delay that postponed his fourth-round battle, he had little time to recover. “It was only getting worse,” he said. “Unfortunately today was the worst day. Probably the fact that I played yesterday, kind of days adding up, as I’ve said before, it wasn’t helping at all.”
