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Defending champion Novak Djokovic was forced to withdraw from the French Open with a torn medial meniscus sustained during a dramatic five-set victory against Francisco Cerundolothe Argentine 23rd seed, on Monday.
“I am really sad to announce that I have to withdraw from Roland Garros,” Djokovic said in a statement on social media. “I played with my heart and gave it my all in yesterday’s game and unfortunately, due to a torn medial meniscus in my right knee, my team and I had to make a difficult decision after careful consideration and consultation.
“I wish the best of luck to the players competing this week and a sincere thank you to the amazing fans for all the love and continued support.”
Djokovic was leading by a set on Court Philippe-Chatrier when he slipped on the court and injured his knee. After receiving treatment, the 37-year-old was extremely critical of the condition of the courts at the French Open; he believed that the rain and bad weather affected the courts by removing some of the top layer of clay and making it much more slippery. In his conversation with tournament supervisor Wayne McCuen, Djokovic expressed his frustration that the courts were not cleaned more often.
“It looks like some of the clay was removed so there was very little, almost no clay on the court today,” he said. “Because of the drier conditions and the sun and the warmer conditions, it affects the clay in such a way that it becomes very slippery. So the knee injury I had today happened because of that, because I slipped, and I slip a lot. I mean, everybody skates on clay, but I slipped too many times.”
Despite limping around the court and falling 2-4 in the fourth set while trailing two sets to one, Djokovic launched another dramatic comeback to win and reach the quarter-finals. He said afterwards that the considerable amount of painkillers he had taken allowed him to play pain-free in the latter stages of the match, but said he would not know more until he had a scan.
“After the third set was over, I asked for more drugs and I got them,” Djokovic said. “That was the maximum dose he started as I heard now [a] doctor in 30 to 45 minutes, which was right around the time – kind of like the end of the fourth – when things really started to get better for me. I started to feel less restricted in my movement. Basically, the whole fifth set was pretty much pain-free, which is great, you know. But then the effects of the meds won’t last too long, so we’ll see.
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With Djokovic’s retirement, Yannick Siner will rise to the No. 1 ranking next week for the first time in his career. Sinner will be the first Italian world No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings and the 22-year-old’s rise means that there will now be more No. 1s born in the 2000s (Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner) than in the 1990s (Daniel Medvedev).
The injury also means Djokovic is a major doubt for Wimbledon, where he is a seven-time champion and finished as a finalist last year, losing to Alcaraz.
This season continues to be one of the toughest years of Djokovic’s career. He arrived in Paris struggling to find form and motivation and has not won a title this year, which has only happened once at this stage of the year since he won his first title in 2006.
Despite the Serbian’s considerable efforts in Paris, with nine hours on court in his last two matches, recovering from two sets to one to victory against Lorenzo MusettiThe 30th seed, at 3.07am, then launched another dramatic comeback while injured to beat Cerundolo, Djokovic now has to work his way back from injury with just over seven weeks until the Olympics start.
While confirmed as the next world No. 1, Sinner continued his dominant form by beating 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (3) to reach the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time . As Djokovic withdrew during the match, Sinner did not learn of his impending promotion until his on-court interview. “I am very happy with this achievement,” he said.
“It’s a lot of work that we put in every day. This is everyday life. Obviously I’m happy to have this number. There’s a very important match for me in two days, the semi-finals, so I’m focused on that at the moment. But, yes, of course, I’m very happy to have this number now.
After arriving in Paris with doubts over the hip injury that had forced him to withdraw before his quarter-finals at the Madrid Open and Italiano Open, Sinner continued to improve through the rounds and established himself as one of the top title contenders. He is now 33-2 this year, and after following up his Australian Open title with a semifinal in Paris, he remains unbeaten at Grand Slams after 12 matches.
Sinner will resume his rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals after the third seed beat ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Tuesday night. After once again breaking the Greek’s vulnerable backhand with one hand and peppering him with drop shots throughout the evening, Alcaraz’s record against Tsitsipas now stands at 6-0.
Alcaraz entered the tournament with his own physical problems after pulling out of Rome with a forearm injury. Since arriving in Paris, however, the 21-year-old has gradually improved and has been hitting the ball particularly freely since his third-round match. Whoever survives this huge semi-final on Friday afternoon will be heavily favored to close out the tournament with their first French Open title.
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