Novak Djokovic out of Davis Cup, cites hamstring injury

Novak Djokovic has been ruled out of Serbia’s upcoming Davis Cup tie against Denmark due to the hamstring injury that forced him to retire at the Australian Open.

The former world No. 1, 37, lost the first set of his semifinal to Alexander Zverev before opting not to continue, having aggravated the injury he picked up a round prior against Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic, who was subsequently booed off of Rod Laver Arena, later took to social media to share images from his MRI in an effort to prove the veracity of his injury.

"Thought I'd leave this here for all the sports injury 'experts' out there," wrote the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

Djokovic, who won a longed-for Olympic gold but did not win a Grand Slam title in 2024, had enjoyed a revitalizing run in Melbourne spearheaded by rival-turned-coach Andy Murray. The 10-time Australian Open knocked out two seeds, Tomas Machac and Jiri Lechecka, in straight sets and overcame Alcaraz in four despite the injury that ultimately felled him against Zverev.

Davis Cup’s 2025 qualifying begins this weekend, and Serbia will have to face a Danish team led by former world No. 4 Holger Rune without their most vaunted player. As a stalwart for the team competition, Djokovic has amassed a 41-8 record in singles and led Serbia to victory back in 2010.

"We are weakened by not playing Novak, but we are still going for the win," said Viktor Troicki, former ATP pro, now Serbia’s Davis Cup team captain.

"The Danes have a great player in Holger Rune, but our players are also great and I believe in my team."

Serbia will meet Denmark at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen on January 31.