Mitchell Johnson: Injury blues part of life, but Alex de Minaur will come roaring back after Wimbledon setback

Isn’t Wimbledon special?

And I don’t need to have played tennis at a professional level to know this – even though it was my dream as a kid to play there. It’s a bit like what Lord’s is to cricketers and cricket fans.

While Wimbledon is one of four grand slam tournaments, I’d say it’s ranked number one. Some players might have other favourites for different reasons, but if you could win one trophy in your career it would be hard to go past doing it on centre court at Wimbledon.

With the majority of tennis we see on TV probably hardcourt-based, Wimbledon certainly stands out. The courts at SW19 have that immaculately cut grass, just how most men would like their front and back yards to look.

The grass also lends itself to a different style of tennis. I grew up watching Stefan Edberg and later Pistol Pete Sampras serve-volleying on the grass and it’s great to watch.

Watching the crowd is almost another sport in itself. There are stars from other sports, celebrities of all sorts and even royals.

It’s interesting watching centre court matches on TV when the crowd falls silent before a point and trying to imagine what that stage would feel like as a player. It does remind me of Lord’s and how there are moans and groans from the crowd and the polite ‘golfers’ style clap at times.

If last year’s men’s final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz is anything to go by, Sunday night’s rematch will be worth watching.

At just 21, Alcaraz is in line to put his name alongside only a handful of greats before him, and literally right in front of him in Djokovic, and become the sixth man to do the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same year.

At 37, Djokovic is trying to create more of his own history by moving clear of Australia’s Margaret Court with a 25th grand slam title.

I wonder what impact the crowd atmosphere will have on this final, with Djokovic having complained about his treatment during the tournament. It is a great match-up between youth and experience and I think youth might just have the upper hand.

Aussie Alex de Minaur won’t be there after his dramatic withdrawal from his quarterfinal against Djokovic with a “freak” hip injury.

Injuries are never much fun. Even less so when they rob you of what de Minaur described as the biggest match of his career.

If was tough for him to even put it into words and you could hear the sadness and disappointment in his voice. As an athlete, fronting up to the world at your lowest moments is the reality of an individual professional sport such as tennis.

The risk of injury exists in any sport at any level, whether it be in competition or in training. The emotions that flood you on the inside are many. You can start to think about what ifs.

De Minaur said he hoped to wake up on match day and have made a miraculous recovery. It didn’t happen and he made the logical decision to pull out, having been informed it was likely a 3-6 week injury but it could stretch to four months if he made it worse.

Missing the upcoming Paris Olympics would be another cruel blow after he missed Tokyo three years ago with COVID.

I wonder if he made the decision to pull out thinking he was still a chance for the Olympics? Which actually poses another question – what’s more important, winning a grand slam or a gold medal at the Olympics?

Regardless of what was going through de Minaur’s mind, he didn’t have a lot of time to make a decision and if you can’t move properly and your game relies on movement it probably becomes a pretty easy decision.

If you ask all sportsmen and women around the world, at club level, local level and as a professional, we have all played with a niggle or injury at some point.

It’s actually much simpler in an individual sport. You’re not affecting anyone else. In a team sport, you not only have to think about your own performance but if you get out there and are hindered in any way or you completely injure yourself to the point you can’t play on, are you letting your team down? That burden is not a great feeling to carry.

When you’ve reached the top, you tend to understand your body so much better and you know what you’re capable of pushing through because of experience.

De Minaur needs to accept his decision and get ready to move forward. He is playing great tennis and he can take this time off to work on everything he needs too, get himself right and come back more determined than ever.

At just 25 and entrenched in the world’s top 10, there should be more Wimbledon quarterfinal chances ahead and even more Olympics. He has time on his side and should be back on court in no time.