Novak Djokovic withdraws from French Open due to injury ahead of QF clash
Novak Djokovic has officially withdrawn from the 2024 French Open ahead of his quarterfinal clash against Casper Ruud due to injury. The Norwegian will now feature in the semifinals at Roland Garros for the third year in a row, where he will take on either Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur.
The World No. 1 appeared at unease during his fourth-round match against Francisco Cerundolo, a five-set thriller that lasted 4.5 hours. Djokovic had also played a 4.5 hour-long thriller in the third round, beating Lorenzo Musetti in a five-setter that ended past 3 am the next day.
Against Cerundolo, the 37-year-old also appeared to have made an existing knee injury worse when he took a fall during the final set. Clarifying the situation later at his press conference, Djokovic himself had cast doubts on his participation in the quarterfinals.
"I was playing a few tournaments with [the knee injury] and had no issues until today. 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 said.
It came to light earlier today that the World No. 1 was to have an MRI scan in Paris, following which he would decide whether to withdraw or not. Now, it has been confirmed that the 24-time Grand Slam champion has pulled out of the tournament after the MRI revealed a lesion in his knee.
Casper Ruud, who reached the last two finals at the French Open, has therefore moved to the semifinals without having to take the court at all on Wednesday. Following one more day of rest, he will face the winner of the Zverev-De Minaur quarterfinal in the semifinals on Friday.
Novak Djokovic yet to win a title in the 2024 season
With the end of the clay court season, Novak Djokovic is yet to win a title in the 2024 season. The Serb's best results have been run to the semifinals at the Australian Open, the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Geneva Open.
In Melbourne, he fell to eventual champion Jannik Sinner, following which he lost to Casper Ruud in Monte-Carlo. In Geneva, he fell unexpectedly to Tomas Machac. The World No. 1 also participated this year at the Indian Wells Open and the Italian Open, where he faced early exits.