Djokovic was leading Kei Nishikori 6-1, 4-1 when the Japanese star retired from the tournament.
The pair were on court for just 52 minutes before Nishikori was no longer able to continue, despite twice receiving extensive treatment from the physio.
The No 8 seed had his right thigh strapped up and limped off the court, where he struggled to get up the stairs behind the scenes.
Many in the crowd will have rightly felt short changed after stumping up for tickets to a match which ended prematurely.
But Djokovic’s apology and lengthy on-court interview may have gone some way to boosting their spirits.
“I am sorry for everybody for not having a full match tonight but thank you for showing up,” he said.
Djokovic also wished his opponent all the best in his recovery.
“I think now he can recover and is not something that is very serious that will take too long,” he added.
It was thought Nishikori’s problem arose from playing over 14 hours at the Australian Open over the past week.
But he insisted the issue only came to light during the match.
“Before the match, I was okay,” he said.
“Of course, I wasn’t, like, fresh, fresh. I thought I was going to be okay.
“After third game or fourth game when I was serving, I felt pretty heavy to my right leg.
“After that I couldn’t really bend my knees and couldn’t jump up. Yeah, I decided to stop.
“I was trying. Like I said, after couple games, I couldn’t really move, couldn’t hit my serve well.
“I don’t think even if it’s Novak, I couldn’t beat anybody with my one leg. It was just too tough.”