Djokovic withdraws from French Open due to knee injury
Defending champion Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the French Open before his quarter-final with a knee injury.
Serbia’s Djokovic had a scan for the injury on Tuesday, having blamed the “slippery” Roland Garros clay courts for aggravating the problem during his fourth-round victory on Monday.
The top seed announced his withdrawal from the Grand Slam tournament later on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old was due to play Norwegian seventh seed Casper Ruud in the last eight on Wednesday.
The scan revealed Djokovic has a “torn medial meniscus” in his right knee, said French Open organisers.
The injury has ended his hopes of winning a 25th Grand Slam title – which would be an outright all-time record – on the Paris clay.
As a result of withdrawing, Djokovic will lose his status as the world number one and be replaced by Italy’s Jannik Sinner after the French Open.
It remains to be seen if he will [be] able to regain fitness in time for Wimbledon, where he is a seven-time champion.
The grass-court championships start at the All England Club on July 1.
The Paris 2024 Olympics starts at Roland Garros on July 27.
Djokovic has never won an Olympic gold and made no secret that it was a key priority this year. (BBC)
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