Novak Djokovic has been ruled out of the French Open 2024 ahead of the quarterfinals against Casper Ruud due to a knee injury. After Djokovic withdrew from Roland Garros, he also had to relinquish his top spot in the ATP rankings as Jannik Sinner was automatically crowned as the new world number 1.
Djokovic sustained an injury during his fourth-round victory over Francisco Cerundolo however, the extent of it was found during an MRI a day later. He has a torn medial meniscus in his right knee.
“Due to a torn medial meniscus in his right knee (discovered during an MRI scan performed today), Novak Djokovic… has been forced to withdraw from the Roland Garros tournament,” organisers said in a statement.
Djokovic was scheduled to face two-time French Open runner-up Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. However, Ruud has a walkover into the semifinals, where he will face the winner of Alexander Zverev and Alex de Minaur.
With Djokovic’s ouster, Ruud has now become the favourite in the competition as he has experience of tasting the glory at Roland Garros twice and a direct entry to thesemis will also boost his morale for the big stage.
Meanwhile, after the win in the fourth round, the 24-time grand slam winner was not impressed with the ‘slippery’ Philippe Chatrier court and blamed it for getting injured during the second set.
“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or after tomorrow if I’ll be able to step out on the court and play. You know, I hope so. Let’s see what happens,” Djokovic said after the match.
He also said that he had needed anti-inflammatory drugs to get through the match, where he showed great resilience to get a 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Cerundolo.
Amid a season in which he is only 18-6 and has not reached a final at any tournament, let alone won one, he needed to get back to the title match in Paris to retain his hold atop the ATP rankings.
However, his injury helped Sinner to reclaim the World No.1 spot earlier than expected. Sinner already knew that he could secure the top spot in the ATP ranking by reaching the final at Roland Garros. However, he achieved the landmark while playing the quarter-final against Grigor Dimitrov which he won comfortably 6-2, 6-4, 7-6.
The 22-year-old tennis sensation has been in terrific form this season. He clinched his maiden grand slam title with the Australian Open, apart from that he registered a couple of incredible wins in the Rotterdam and Miami Opens.