Dubai: Novak Djokovic’s retirement came as a shock to a near-full Dubai Tennis Stadium late on Thursday.
A hurried late night short meeting on the lawns besides the side courts saw the reigning world number one and four-time Dubai champion explain that his exit due to the eye problem may have been due to the use of contact lenses.
Having lost the opening set 3-6 against Feliciano Lopez in their last quarter-final on centre court on Thursday night, Djokovic’s unbeaten run of making it to 17 finals came to a grinding halt as he walked up to Lopez and informed him that he would not continue play.
Djokovic had an amazing 2015 season, during which he made 15 straight finals in one year, of which ten of these were top tier tournaments that he went on to win.
“I was instructed not to wear contact lenses because of the fact that lenses are actually not helping this situation. They are making it worse. So I was wearing contacts only on the match last night [Wednesday] and today. Other than that, I was not wearing them at all,” Djokovic said.
“You know, that’s all I can say. If I had a third eye I would play the tournament. I’m sorry that I’m talking to you now with my sunglasses at 10 pm. It’s not a usual sight,” he added.
The world number one then went on to explain the eye problem. “It’s an eye problem. I have had it ever since I arrived to Dubai. It started with an infection and then severe allergy. That’s what I was told. It’s gotten worse in the last two days, unfortunately. It’s the first time that I have had such a problem with the eye. It was unfortunate. It was ultra sensitive today, the lights, and it just wasn’t to be. I’m really sad to finish the tournament this way. I apologize to all the people who came in to watch the match. I apologize to the tournament director and everybody who came out to support me,” Djokovic said.
“I’m really sad to end out the tournament this way, but I was forced to,” he shrugged.
Down 1-2 in the first set, Djokovic requested for the tournament doctor on court. After some treatment of the eye, he battled through the set that his Spanish opponent went on to win in 33 minutes 6-3.
“There was not much that they could do on the court basically when I invited them down. It didn’t feel right in any way for me today. I know that already from the very morning today, and the practice session was just awful as well. Yeah, I tried. You know, in the end of the day, I tried and I hope that people will recognize that,” Djokovic added.
Ending such a great run was the least of his worries as he hoped to make a quick and strong comeback. “This is the least of my thoughts at the moment. I just hope that this problem with the eye will fade away in the next couple of days. I got a lot of important events waiting for me in the next period,” he confided.
