Andy Murray breaks silence on his future with Novak Djokovic after the Serb dramatically retired mid-match due to… See more 👇

As Novak Djokovic shook Alexander Zverev’s hand, Andy Murray grabbed a bag of kit and rushed off like a man with a train to catch.

If that was to be the end of these two old rivals’ alliance, then what a shame it was played out to a soundtrack of boos.

Djokovic had just lost a gruelling, 82-minute first set of his Australian Open semi-final in a tiebreak against Zverev and the pain of a muscle torn in his previous match against Carlos Alcaraz had been building.

He retired hurt and the fans, who had paid a minimum of £150 for this one match alone, felt robbed of what had the makings of a classic.

In what has been a theme of this rowdy Australian Open, some of the crowd expressed their frustrations in a highly inappropriate manner.

In the Serbian portion of his press conference, Djokovic said: ‘People paid for tickets expecting a great match and a big fight, which they didn’t get. From that perspective, I can understand. I am doing my best to understand them, but I am not sure whether they understand me or if they even want to understand me.’

The 10-time champion has played some superb tennis this fortnight, especially in overcoming the muscle tear to take down Alcaraz in the quarter-finals. But this is the second Grand Slam in 12 months, after the French Open, which for him has ended in injury.

His best chance of taking that elusive 25th Grand Slam could be at Wimbledon — and surely he would want Murray in the Centre Court stands for that? The arrangement had always been that Murray would work with Djokovic in the off-season and in Melbourne before reassessing.

The Scot would not be drawn on his feelings on Friday. ‘Me and Novak agreed that after the tournament we would speak,’ he said. ‘We’ll do that.’

Djokovic said the pain — both physical and emotional — was too raw to make a decision yet, but suggested he would be keen to continue the partnership.

‘We both were disappointed with what just happened, so we didn’t talk about the future step,’ said the 37-year-old. ‘I’ll have a chat with Andy, give him my feedback, which is positive, see how he feels and we make the next step. We need to cool off a bit and then we’ll have a chat.’

Djokovic has taken every opportunity to laud Murray’s contributions this week. After the extraordinary win over Alcaraz, he ran to embrace the Scot.

The sticking point in negotiations could be Murray’s willingness to travel: with four children, can he commit to a full schedule on the tour? Even if he cannot, short stints at each Grand Slam could be ideal for both parties, given those are the only trophies Djokovic really cares about.

Murray, speaking for the first time since the tournament began, said: ‘They really welcomed me into the team. It’s been great to be a part of. I got to witness some amazing tennis and one of the best matches I’ve seen live against Alcaraz.

‘It’s a steep learning curve for me. I’ve learned a lot but there’s a lot more still to learn.’

In Sunday’s men’s final, world No 2 Zverev will face world No 1 Jannik Sinner. Defending champion Sinner had to save two set points in the opening set of his semi-final against American Ben Shelton but came through 7-6, 6-2, 6-2.

He seemed to be struggling with back pain and cramp in the latter stages and that should give Zverev further encouragement against a man he has beaten four times in six meetings. Zverev has lost finals at the French and US Opens — is this his moment at last?

In Saturday’s women’s final, at 8.30am UK time, Aryna Sabalenka will go for her third consecutive Australian Open title; opponent Madison Keys is eyeing a first Grand Slam crown.