Novak elbowed out of Wimbers as 18-month

NOVAK DJOKOVIC stunned Wimbledon by retiring from his quarter-final with Tomas Berdych – then revealed he has been blighted by an elbow injury for more than 18 months.

The three-times champion threw in the towel shortly after Andy Murray limped out of Centre Court on a day of drama at the All England Club. Roger Federer is now the hot favourite to land an eighth title after the 35-year-old breezed into a last-four meeting with Berdych courtesy of a straight-sets romp over Milos Raonic.

But Djokovic now faces an anxious wait to discover the extent of the damage that forced him off Court One two games into yesterday’s second set. The Serb appeared to be getting treatment on a shoulder injury after losing the first set in a tie-break but said: “It’s not the shoulder, it’s the elbow that has kept bothering me for over a year-and-a-half actually.

“It’s unfortunate I had to finish Wimbledon this way. I mean, if someone feels bad about it it’s me. I was able to play for 30 minutes with some pain that was bearable.

“But all the treatments and medications couldn’t really help.

“It’s not a time and place for me to talk about the details. I’m going to talk with specialists, as I have done in the last year or so, to try to figure out what’s the best way to treat it to find a long-term solution. Short term, probably rest is most appropriate. We will see.

“But the intensity and level of pain was not decreasing, it was only increasing as the days went by.

“I started feeling it already more or less at the beginning of the tournament.

“But it was only getting worse. Unfortunately today was the