Novak Djokovic faces a surprising turn of events. The Serbian legend, eyeing his 25th Grand Slam, came into round four with high hopes for a battle. Set to face the young star, Jakub Mensik, who beat him previously at the 2025 Miami Open final, Nole was ready to bring the big guns for another shot at the quarterfinals on Melbourne Park. However, it wasn’t quite the match he was expecting.

On Sunday afternoon, word came that the 16th seed had withdrawn from his fourth-round clash. Mensik had earned the clash with Novak by defeating American Ethan Quinn on Saturday. But roughly 24 hours before their scheduled match, he announced he was forced to pull out, taking to his Instagram to share the update.

“This is a tough one to write, Jakub Mensik wrote, “After doing everything we could to keep going, I have to withdraw from the Australian Open due to an abdominal muscle injury that has progressed over the last matches. After a long discussions with my team and doctors we decided not to step on court tomorrow.”

“Even though I’m disappointed, making the 4th round here for the first time is something I will carry with me for a long time. I felt so much energy from the fans and the atmosphere in Melbourne was truly special Thank you to my team for being with me every step, and to everyone sending messages and cheering – it means more than you know.
Now it’s time to recover properly.”

This is a developing story…