Alex de Minaur in devastating withdrawal from Wimbledon after 'awful' scenes sparked concern

Alex de Minaur has been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon before his clash with Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals after he suffered a hip injury on match point of his fourth-round victory. De Minaur beat Arthur Fils 6-2 6-4 4-6 6-3 to book a quarter-final showdown with Djokovic, but the Aussie star pulled up lame and was visibly limping after producing a lunging volley to win the match.

It was announced on Wednesday night (Australian time) that de Minaur had withdrawn, handing Djokovic a walkover into the semi-finals. "Obviously not an announcement I wanted to make by any means," the Aussie said at a press conference at the All England Club.

"Yeah, I'm devastated but had to pull out due to a hip injury. I felt a loud crack during the last three points of my match against Fils and got a scan yesterday. It confirmed this was the injury and with high risk of making it worse if I was to step on court.

"It is no secret that at this stage of my career, it was the biggest match of my career. I knew the results yesterday but hoped I would wake up today and feel some sort of miracle. The problem with me going out and playing is one stretch, one slide, one anything can make this injury go from three to six weeks to four months."

Alex de Minaur was clearly injured in fourth round win

De Minaur's celebrations were noticeably muted after he beat Fils, and he shot a worried look towards his players' box that suggested all was not right. His coach - as well as Aussie legend Lleyton Hewitt - were both looking very concerned during the post-match interview, while girlfriend Katie Boulter also appeared to realise something was up.

Boulter was happy and jovial when de Minaur hit the winning volley, but her face soon turn downcast as she came to the realisation that he might be injured. It comes as a heartbreaking twist of fate for de Minaur that he can't take on Djokovic in what would have been one of the biggest matches of his life.

Djokovic later breezed past Holger Rune 6-3 6-4 6-2, further dispelling any notion that his recently repaired knee is bothering him. De Minair had said on court: "I'll be alright. I'll find a way."

He later clarified he had "jarred" his hip and it was "a little bit 'ginger'", but added: "It's probably a little bit of a scare more than anything. I'm feeling pretty decent. I've done my recovery. I'm sure I'll be feeling great tomorrow. I'm super proud of myself to be in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. You can count on me going out there, trying my hardest and playing my heart out."

Fans were left shattered for de Minaur, with many pointing out his 'concerning' and 'awful' reaction after winning on Monday. Others bemoaned the fact that Djokovic gets easy passage into the semis.

RELATED:

• Wimbledon rocked by 'horrendous' scenes for Gauff and Madison Keys

• Iga Swiatek caught up in ugly scenes as Wimbledon turns on World No.1

Alex de Minaur makes tennis history for Australia at Wimbledon

De Minaur became just the second Australian since 1978 to make the quarter-finals of the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, with Hewitt the last Aussie to achieve the feat in 2004. De Minaur has also risen to a new career-high of World No.6 in live ATP rankings - and he's guaranteed to finish the tournament there.

Only six other Australian men have ever made it so high in the rankings in the 51 years of the ATP system that was launched in 1973. Hewitt, John Newcombe and Pat Rafter all made it to World No.1, while Ken Rosewall (No.2), Rod Laver (No.3) and Pat Cash (No.4) are the only other Aussie men to climb so high.

Asked what pleased him most about his performance on Monday, the 25-year-old said: "Getting over the finish line, a great job mentally to get through." His clash with Djokovic will be his third quarter-final at grand slam level, and comes two years after blowing a two-set lead and two match points in the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2022.

"Obviously a couple years back I was in a similar position, being two sets to love up," he said. "There was a lot going through my mind. Happy I was able to finish it off in the end. It definitely wasn't easy. It definitely wasn't straightforward. But hey, I'm sitting here in the quarter-finals. So happy days.

"I've taken a lot of the tough moments that I've gone through in my career, there's only one way to look at it, and that's learn from it. It's all about the little wins. My whole career has been about that, getting better every day, learning from tough experiences. I think that's the key to becoming a better tennis player."

with AAP