Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, withdrew from the French Open before his quarter-final match, following a knee injury he incurred during his fourth-round endurance test against Francisco Cerundolo, according to the tournament’s organisers on Tuesday. Djokovic’s early exit from the competition spells the end of his pursuit for an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title and sidelines him from his world number one position, soon to be acquired by Italian Jannik Sinner this month.
An MRI scan uncovered a ruptured medial meniscus in Djokovic’s right knee and he has been compelled to pull out of the Roland Garros tournament. He would have played Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals had he stayed in the competition, the organisers announced.
Djokovic, who initially came second the previous year, The Norwegian player Ruud will now progress to semi-finals on Wednesday in lieu of Djokovic.
Djokovic confirmed that he had been managing an injury for several weeks, which exacerbated when he lost his footing during his match against Cerundolo. His contest against Cerundolo was his second consecutive match where he was pushed to five sets, having similarly battled through his previous face-off with Lorenzo Musetti.