NOVAK DJOKOVIC HAS pulled out of the French Open ahead of his quarter-final against Casper Ruud due to a knee injury suffered in the previous round, tournament organisers have announced.
“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.
World number one and 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic was due to play Ruud on Wednesday for a place in the last four. Djokovic defeated Ruud in last year’s final at Roland Garros.
As a result Ruud will go on to face fourth seed Alexander Zverev or 11th seed Alex de Minaur in the semi-finals on Friday.
The 37-year-old Djokovic had cast doubt over his fitness following Monday’s five-set win over Francisco Cerundolo, admitting he needed anti-inflammatory drugs to get through the match.
Djokovic blamed the “slippery” Philippe Chatrier court for the injury he sustained early in the second set of his 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Cerundolo.
“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.
“For the last couple weeks I have had, I would say, slight discomfort, I would call it that way, in the right knee, but I haven’t had an injury that would be concerning me at all.
“I was playing a few tournaments with it, and no issues until today.”
Djokovic’s withdrawal from the French Open means that Jannik Sinner will become Italy’s first men’s world number one next week.
The Serbian star arrived at the tournament with his status at the top under threat from Sinner, who was guaranteed to supplant Djokovic if the latter failed to reach the final in Paris.
Djokovic has spent a record 428 weeks at the top of the rankings.
His injury extends his worst start to a season since 2018, when he didn’t win an event until claiming the Wimbledon title.
Adding to his problems, he was accidentally hit on the head by a metal water bottle in Rome last month before suffering stomach problems in Geneva.
Djokovic last pulled out of a Grand Slam during the 2019 US Open, when a shoulder problem forced him to quit against Stan Wawrinka in the last 16.
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Munster are looking good.!.
@Locojoe: They really are starting to look very good. I’d expect a but win and five points and would fancy them to run Castres close in France.
I see Joey is trying out the new invisible skipping rope. They have it all down in Munster.
@DeShawn Jersey:
Carbery, “Gee whizz I’m going to be playing next to Conor Murray”
Murray, “Here we go again”
Should be a pretty strong team picked today. Barring injury at 15 the only number I’m not sure of is 12. He could go with scannell or blyendaal there with the other covering the bench. Looking forward to seeing carbery in the middle of Murray and Farrell. Also looking forward to seeing loughman and what he can do in a big game against a good side. I’d expect a munster win by about 10 points I think.
@Jim Demps: Loughman is a good losehead he just wasn’t going to make it as a tighthead. He was right to leave, now with Cronin being injured he has a real chance to progress his career. Just hope he doesn’t end up going to the world cup with the US as that would rule him out long term for Munster.
@Jim Demps: Scannell starts. He might not be that highly rated, but in the last 3/4 years he has made that 12 jersey his own under successive coaches.
@Darren Byrne: I dont think loughman will be lining out for the states. He must be firmly on the radar of the Irish management for the future given that Healy, McGrath, kilcoyne and cronin are all in and around the same age and around the 30 mark now
@Jim Demps: guessing Blyendaal on bench to cover 12, Scannell to start( left foot), team kinda picks itself after that. Butterflies starting, can see Murray Carbery axis being what has been missing. Leinster have Jonnie, but Conor and Joey trump even him. 3 more sleeps.
There’s a Heineken cup or two in this young and developing squad.
@Paul O’Connor: naw, nobody is going to beat Leinster this side of the World Cup in France.
2nd row selection will be interesting in the absence of Jean Kleyn.
@retsnuM: Surely Holland comes in and Wycherley takes the bench spot, as he seems to have jumped O’Shea in the pecking. In terms of locks we are a little light. DOC2 could cover but he is injured, maybe POM can cover in a crisis. Definitely an area we need more depth.
@Johnny 5: well there is a certain Tipperary man out of contract in Paris this summer…
@Johnny 5: I agree re Holland and Wycherley but I seem to remember that O’Shea looked good recently – including in the heavy going in Zebre, I think. I really hope that he develops into Munster’s Devin Toner – he’s only an inch shorter that Dev, is still only 25 (26 next week) and has good players and coaches to learn from. Maybe uber-tall players take a bit longer to develop. As we know, 6-9 / 6-10 comfort blankets are very handy in the line-out for provinces and Ireland.
@Glenbower: I don’t doubt it’s possible and he has all the physical attibutes required, but he is back 2 years and looks like he is moving backwards in the pecking order. It’s not like lock is very competitive spot for Munster at the moment. He is competing with Holland (33 and without the physical attibutes to be top level lock) and Wycherley (only 20), O’Shea should really be pushing on and playing games if he is going to make it.
@Niall Collins: that would be great, but considering we couldn’t afford to keep him 2 years ago, and he has spent the last 2 years tearing up trees in Paris it’s hard to imagine him coming back. Plus the carrot of playing for Ireland at the RWC isn’t even guaranteed if he returned with the emergence of James Ryan and Beirne since he left
@retsnuM: Big Billy & Tadgh
Looking forward to this pairing. Suspect Cooney – Carbery might make for a fine combination as well though.