Alex de Minaur has pulled out of his quarter-final with Novak Djokovic after failing to recover from the injury sustained late in his fourth-round match against Arthur Fils.
De Minaur had booked his place in the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time but pulled up on match point.
He said in his post-match press conference that he had sustained a hip injury but downplayed the severity of it and suggested he would be ready to take on the seven-time champion for a place in the last four.
But just after midday on Wednesday, the Australian announced his withdrawal from the match and the tournament after a scan on Wednesday showed he had torn a cartilage in his hip.
He said: “I’m devastated. Have to pull out due to a hip injury, a tear of the cartilage that connect to the adductors.
“I felt a loud crack during the last three points of my match against Fils and got a scan yesterday and it confirmed that this was the injury, with high risk of making it worse if I was to step on court.
“I wanted to do anything I could to play. I wanted to wake up today hoping that I would feel some sort of miracle and not feel it while I’m walking.
“They haven’t been able to tell me a definite recovery plan because it’s such a unique injury. Based on pain right now, it can be anywhere from three to six weeks. It just depends on how quickly my body heals.”
De Minaur had said he hoped to become a token Brit in the eyes of the British public on Centre Court as the boyfriend of British No1 Katie Boulter.
After his withdrawal, he said of the Briitsh support: “To the British fans that have supported me, extremely disappointed I couln’d go out there and compete. I felt the love.”
