(Paris) Novak Djokovic, who was injured the day before in the round of 16, withdrew on Tuesday due to “a lesion of the medial meniscus of the right knee” detected during an MRI, the organizers announced, and will leave the place of world No.1 for Jannik Sinner at the end of Roland-Garros.
The 37-year-old Serbian beat Francisco Cerundolo on Monday using a heavy dose of anti-inflammatories, and was due to face Norwegian Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, but he “must forfeit”, according to a tournament press release.
Monday evening, Djokovic, who was aiming for a 25th Grand Slam title in Paris, explained after his 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory against Cerundolo that he had hurt himself by slipping in the second round.
“I played with all my heart and I gave everything”: Novak Djokovic commented on his withdrawal from Roland-Garros, announced Tuesday the day after a difficult round of 16 during which he injured his knee right.
“I am really sad to announce that I have to withdraw from Roland-Garros. I played with all my heart and I gave everything in yesterday’s match (Monday in the round of 16 against Cerundolo, Editor’s note) and unfortunately, due to an injury to the medial meniscus of my right knee, my team and I had to make this difficult decision, after taking into account all considerations and hearing all consultations,” the Serbian wrote on social media.
His withdrawal, which will cost him his place as world No. 1 on Monday in favor of the Italian Jannik Sinner, was announced a little earlier by the French Tennis Federation (FFT), organizer of the tournament.
“In recent weeks I have had a little discomfort in my right knee, but nothing to do with a worrying injury. I played tournaments with it and nothing happened until today. But in the third game of the second set, I slipped and it affected my knee,” he detailed.
“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, or if I will be able to get on the court and play,” he warned, specifying that his injury was linked to a lack of dirt on the court and adding that he was able to finish his match thanks to anti-inflammatories.
Italian Jannik Sinner, who is among the favorites for the title, qualified for his first semi-final at Roland Garros on Tuesday by easily beating 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (10th).
Winner of the Australian Open in January, he is already assured of becoming at the age of 22 the first player from his country to be world No. 1 at the end of the tournament, due to Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal, announced Tuesday by organizers.
News that he received with a standing ovation from Philippe-Chatrier after his victory.
” What can I say ? It’s everyone’s dream to become world number one. On the other hand, seeing Novak withdraw is very disappointing for everyone. I wish him to heal quickly. I’m trying not to think about it too much, because it’s a tournament where I’ve struggled the last two years, so I’m happy to be in the semi-finals, and I’ll try to play the best I can “, he said.
“Thank you to my team for making this possible, because without them it’s impossible. And without you guys either (to the audience). This is an important moment for me and I am very happy to share it with you, those watching at home and especially from Italy,” he added.
Sinner will face Friday, for a place in the final, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (3rd), who had no difficulty in dismissing the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to rush towards his second consecutive semi-final at Roland-Garros, where awaits him the future world No.1 Jannik Sinner.
Like last year at the same stage of the event, the world No.3 won in three sets: 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4. A victory which makes six in total, in as many confrontations between the two players.
“It was a very good match. I played very well, I controlled my emotions very well, I knew how to stay calm when necessary and I am very happy to play a half here again,” commented Alcaraz, all smiles.
Already winner at 21 of two Grand Slams, the United States Open in 2022 and Wimbledon in 2023, Alcaraz said this weekend that he knew what tactics to adopt to maintain his domination over his opponent.
And he worked to apply it from the start, hammering Tsitsipas’ backhand, his weak point. Cornered, without a solution, the 25-year-old Greek endured the exchanges, leaving the Spaniard to win the first round in half an hour.
Broken at the start of the second round (3-0), Tsitsipas, finally out of his torpor, fought back, managing to go the distance in the fight imposed by Alcaraz, and pushed him to make a mistake to fill his delay (4-4).
The two players then delivered superb tennis at times, competing in particular with silky drop shots, under the eyes of a few stars including the American actor Ben Stiller, a great fan of this sport.
The decision was made in the tiebreaker, during which “Carlitos”, imperturbable, knew how to accelerate the pace to break away with the score.
Sinner was intractable during the first two rounds, completed with authority, also taking advantage of the excitement of Dimitrov, 11 years his senior who made too many errors in his first quarter at Roland-Garros.
One-sided until then, the match ended up being balanced late in the third set, in an unexpected burst, the Bulgarian broke at the last minute after losing his serve at 4-4.
Pushed into the decisive game, Sinner then had no trouble finishing the job, after a very solid performance, which attests to his rise in power on the Parisian clay, where he clearly no longer feels his pain at a hip which had forced him to rest during the three weeks preceding the tournament.
The quarter-final between Alexander Zverev and Alex De Minaur will be played on Wednesday during the 11th day of Roland-Garros, according to the official program published on Tuesday.
Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal before his quarter-final against Casper Ruud means that the Norwegian will advance directly to the semi-finals and that Wednesday will only feature three singles matches.