Novak Djokovic's chances of winning a rare doubles championship on the eve of Wimbledon were dashed Thursday as he was forced to withdraw from the Mallorca final due to a foot injury suffered by his Spanish partner Carlos Gomez-Herrera.
In their first match together, world number one Djokovic and longtime friend Gomez-Herrera upset third seeds Oliver Marach and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to reach the final.Later in the day, though, the duo withdrew.
According to sources, "Novak Djokovic and Carlos Gomez-Herrera have withdrew from the Mallorca doubles final due to foot injury of Gomez-Herrera.”
"The title will go to the winner of Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez v Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald."
Djokovic had been ecstatic to reach the final on the grass courts of Mallorca, where he was preparing for his Wimbledon championship next week.
In an on-court interview following the match, Djokovic said, "I don't think we expected to reach the finals."
"However, if we play well, we can return well, serve well, and I believe we have a good net game."
In the singles event, top seed Daniil Medvedev overcame a tense opening set to defeat Norway's Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-1 and advance to the semi-finals.