"I do not know what will happen" - Novak Djokovic casts doubt on continuing French Open title defence after injury scare in 4R raises fitness concerns
Novak Djokovic has cast doubts on his ability to continue his French Open title defense ahead of a quarterfinal encounter against Casper Ruud scheduled for June 5.
Djokovic, who manufactured a stunning 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 comeback win against Francisco Cerundolo, was in visible discomfort midway through the four-hour thirty-nine-minute encounter. He received medical attention and was given painkillers after having injured his knee early in the second set,
The Serb, who had earlier spent nearly four-and-a-half hours on court getting the better of Lorenzo Musetti in a third-round match, stressed that the pain disrupted his game, especially during rallies.
"I do not know what will happen, tomorrow or after tomorrow, if I will be able to step out on court and play, but I hope so. Let's see what happens," a distressed Djokovic stated during the post-match press conference. (4:27)
Djokovic revealed that although he did have persistent discomfort in the right knee for a couple of weeks, it did not hamper his game. Stressing that the current injury was caused by a slip and fall on the court, the 37-year-old declared that he asked for physio treatment and took a medical timeout to ease the pain.
"For the last couple of weeks, I had some discomfort (I would call that way) in the right knee but I haven't had an injury that would be concerning me at all. I was playing a few tournaments with it and had no issues until today," he explained.
"In the third game of the second set, I slipped, one of the many times that I slipped and fell, that affected the knee. I started feeling the pain and asked for physio treatment and a medical timeout and tried to take care of it," Djokovic added.
Djokovic also mentioned that at one point during the match, the pain was severe enough for him to contemplate retiring mid-match.
"It did disrupt me, definitely, in play. For two-and-a-half sets, I did not want to stay in the rally too long. At one point, I didn't know to be honest whether I should continue or not," the World No. 1 said.
Novak Djokovic to face Casper Ruud in French Open quarterfinals
Casper Ruud lies in wait for Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the 2024 French Open. While Djokovic has beaten the Norwegian on five occasions, Ruud prevailed the last time the two faced off in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Open in April.
Ruud lost to Djokovic in the 2023 French Open finals, thus handing the player from Belgrade his third title at Roland Garros.
Djokovic first played Ruud at the 2020 Rome Masters semifinal winning in straight sets before getting the better of the Oslo-born player in the 2021 ATP Finals.
A second meeting in the semifinals at Rome produced a similar result as the first, with Novak Djokovic prevailing in straight sets in the 2022 edition.