vak Djokovic’s left shoulder was aching, his chances were fing in fourth round against Stan Wawrinka and, soon eugh, U.S. Open’s defending champion and . 1 seed was out of tournament, leaving to a chorus of boos. Djokovic shook his he as he walked over to chair umpire to say he was retiring from match because of that shoulder while trailing 6-4, 7-5, 2-1 and being thoroughly outplayed Sunday night.

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'I’m sorry for crowd': Djokovic

Perhaps confused by sudden turn of events, and likely disappointed in brevity of show y got to watch for ir expensive tickets, some spectators jeered as Djokovic walked off court in Arthur Ashe Stium to he toward locker room, his two equipment bags over his or shoulder. He responded with a thumbs-up. “I’m sorry for crowd. Obviously, y came to see a full match, and just wasn’t to be,” Djokovic said at his news conference. “I mean, a lot of people didn’t kw what’s happening, so you cant blame m.” 32-year-old Serb explained that he h been “taking different stuff to kill pain instantly; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

vak Djokovic Wins His 2nd Match At US Open Despite Injury Scare

Djokovic hopes to play for many more years

Djokovic h won 36 of his past 37 Grand Slam matches, and four of last five major titles, in one of most dominant stretches sport has seen. That pushed his Slam trophy total to 16, moving within four of Roger Federer’s record 20, and within two of Rafael Nal’s 18. “Look, it’s secret that I have, of course, desire and a goal to reach most Slams, and reach Roger’s record. But at same time, it’s a long ro ahe hopefully for me. I hope I can play for many more years. I’m planning to. I mean, I don’t see an end behind corner at all,” said Djokovic, who h been 11-0 in fourth-rounders at Flushing Meows until this one. “w it’s a matter of keeping my body and mind in shape and trying to still peak at se kind of events that are majors and that are most significant in our sport.”

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Wawrinka hugs Djokovic

When it was over, Wawrinka gave Djokovic a hug. “It’s never way you want to finish match,” said . 23-seeded Wawrinka, who will face . 5 Daniil Medvedev in quarterfinals. “I feel sorry for vak.” Djokovic entered night with a 19-5 he-to-he edge against Wawrinka across ir careers. This, though, was ir first meeting since 2016 U.S. Open final, won by Wawrinka.   winner of Wawrinka vs. Medvedev will face winner of Federer vs. Grigor Dimitrov in semifinals.
Against Wawrinka, a three-time major champion himself, Djokovic never quite h usual verve on his shots or range on his formidable service returns. He was out of sorts on all manner of shots, accumulating 30 unforced errors and only 12 winners through first two sets. "For sure, I could see some little (signs) that he was in trouble,” Wawrinka said.

According to ATP, this was 13th mid-match retirement of Djokovic’s career, his sixth at a Grand Slam tournament. This outcome scuttles much-discussed possibility of a semifinal in New York between Djokovic and Federer, which would have been a rematch of ir historic Wimbledon final in July. Djokovic won that one in an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker after nearly five hours.

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Djokovic loses US open to shoulder injury

Djokovic began complaining about his left shoulder during a second-round victory on Wednesday when he repeatedly got massd by a trainer during changeovers. He won his next match Friday, looking good and declaring his shoulder much improved, although he refused to disclose any details of injury or what of treatment he h received. While Djokovic is a righty, he uses his left arm for ball tosses on his serves and to grip racket for his two-fisted backhands. His bid for a fourth U.S. Open championship suddenly dissipated Sunday at conclusion of what for him amounted to a listless and ineffective effort. 

Djokovic mand to le 3-0 and 4-1 in second set, but that was just about all he h in him. Soon he was trying to take shortcuts to avoid lengthy points, and thing was working. When that set ended, Djokovic h a trainer on for a mass, but soon reafter, his title defense was over. “ pain was constant for weeks w,” Djokovic said. “You just kw when you kw, I guess,” Djokovic said, “when you feel like you’re t able to hit (a) shot anymore.”