Novak Djokovic’s knee injury, which he sustained in the match against Francisco Cerundolo, has forced him to withdraw from the French Open 2024.
Thanks to some strong painkillers and his trademark iron will, Djokovic managed defeat Cerundolo in five tough sets, but on the eve of his quarter-final match against Casper Ruud, he pulls out of the French Open 2024.
This is the statement from the organizers: “Due to a torn medial meniscus in his right knee (discovered during an MRI scan performed today), Novak Djokovic, who was supposed to play Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals tomorrow, has been forced to withdraw from the Roland-Garros tournament.”
What does Djokovic’s knee injury mean for the tournament?
This is a developing story and we will add more information here as it develops. What it means is that Djokovic will need a period of rehabilitation. How long, we don’t know. That is not publicly available information yet and it might be an unknown factor at the moment.
There is a Wimbledon tournament coming up in a few weeks. After Wimbledon, there will be the 2024 Paris Olympics, played at Roland Garros. This is where Novak, something he has stated openly, devotes his main focus in the 2024 tennis season.
There could be a scenario where playing Wimbledon is risking his ability to play the Olympics, and then we would likely see a withdrawal from Novak when it comes to the grass court slam.
According to sources, a torn medial meniscus takes from three to six months to heal. And if that is the case, Djokovic will miss both events. But time will tell. Novak is a miracle man and he could be back to Grand Slam winning ways sooner than we thought possible.
Jannik Sinner is the new world number one!
Djokovic needed to reach the French Open final to remain world number one. Pulling out ahead of the quarter-final means that Jannik Sinner will be the new world number one in the ATP rankings starting next week. At the time of writing, Sinner is up two sets to zero against Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals.
Sinner has had a stellar year so far, while Novak has struggled and this throne shift makes sense. How long can Sinner hold on to the top spot? Let us know in the comments.
