Novak Djokovic advances to Wimbledon semi-finals after Alex de Minaur withdraws

De Minaur, seeded ninth, withdrew from his quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic on Wednesday morning after a scan revealed a torn cartilage in his hip, meaning the 37-year-old Djokovic advanced to the semifinals without any problems.

Djokovic will face either 13th-seeded American Taylor Fritz or 25th-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who meet later on Wednesday on Court No. 1.

De Minaur is a talented tour veteran who is in the midst of perhaps his best season to date, having reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros and played a clay-court tournament in Monte Carlo that is rated one level below a Grand Slam.

Instead of facing Djokovic, he joins a long list of players who have had to sit out the two weeks due to injury, including third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys and Grigor Dimitrov.

One player who isn’t having any issues with his fitness? That would be Djokovic, who despite undergoing surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his knee on June 5, is still in contention to equal Roger Federer’s record eight Wimbledon championships, the most won by a man, and win a record 25 Grand Slam singles titles, which would be the most ever won by a man or woman. He is currently tied with Margaret Court, who won most of her major titles before the start of the Open era in 1968.