NOVAK DJOKOVIC has PULLED OUT of the French Open.
And he now faces a race against time to be fit for both Wimbledon and the Olympics.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner is the defending champion at Roland Garros.
But an MRI scan revealed Djokovic, 37, has suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee.
And the world No1 and top seed made the shock call to withdraw from the tournament ahead of his quarter-final with Casper Ruud that was scheduled for Wednesday.
The Norwegian No7 seed, a two-time runner-up, will have an extra day off before facing the winner of Alexander Zverev and Alex De Minaur for a spot in Sunday’s final.
A tweet from Roland Garros said: “Djokovic has withdrawn from Roland-Garros due to a right knee injury. Wishing Novak a speedy recovery.”
The Serbian star claims he “screwed up” his right knee slipping and sliding on Court Philippe-Chatrier during his last-16 win over Francisco Cerundolo on Monday.
Djokovic took painkillers and needed a medical time-out during the second set but played through the pain barrier to fight from 2-1 down to secure his five-set comeback victory over the Argentine – a record-breaking 370th Grand Slam singles win.
That win came after he finished at a ridiculous 3.06am in the early hours of Sunday morning, again battling back to beat Lorenzo Musetti in five gruelling sets.
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And the exit of arguably the biggest name in tennis will come as a major blow to French Open chiefs but they only have themselves to blame for this episode.
Djokovic blasted officials for refusing to sweep the court more regularly than the customary brush at the end of each set.
He asked: “Why is it such a big issue to sweep the court every second changeover?”
Court supervisor Wayne McKewen responded: “Because it’s the groundspeople that make that decision.”
Then Djokovic replied: “Who is playing tennis? Explain it to me. I screwed up my knee because I made a quick move. I’m sliding and slipping all the time.
“The only thing I’m asking is, every second changeover, you sweep the court. That’s all. What is the problem with the groundspeople doing it every second changeover? For them.
“You’re the supervisor, you are representing us players. I’m telling you, as a player, it’s not okay!
“You’re going to go with the groundspeople that do not play tennis. But they know better than me if the court is good or not?”
Minutes after his request was denied, Djokovic suffered his injury as he skidded on the clay.
Djokovic then took a tumble early in the decisive fifth set and sarcastically said “well done” for making the court so slippery and “not dangerous”.
The 2016, 2021 and 2023 French Open king added in his press conference: “I don’t know what exactly they have done. It seems like some of the clay was removed, so there was very little, almost no clay on the court.
“Because of the drier conditions and sun and warmer conditions, it affects the clay in such a way that it becomes very slippery.
“So the injury that I had today with the knee happened exactly because of that, because I slipped, and I slide a lot. Everyone slides on clay, but I slipped way too many times. That is quite unusual.
“Of course I do, because I have an aggressive kind of movement, dynamic change of directions.
This was just too many times
Novak Djokovic on slipping
“It’s normal for me, I’ve slipped and fell on the clay many times in my life, and on grass as well, but this was just too many times.”
Rafael Nadal, the 14-time Roland Garros winner, was dumped out in round one by Alexander Zverev, whose trial over domestic abuse allegations began in Germany during the tournament.
However, Djokovic’s withdrawal guarantees a new winner in the men’s singles in the French Open and the first final since 2004 without one of Djokovic, Nadal or Roger Federer involved.
Reigning major winners Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are both in the bottom half of the draw and will be hopeful of adding to their tallies.
Sinner beat Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to reach the semis while Alcaraz faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in his quarter-final tonight.
In Djokovic’s half, Ruud wants to go one better than his final defeats in 2022 and 2023 – losing both in straight sets.
Zverev has reached three consecutive semis in Paris and knows victory over De Minaur will see him take on Ruud – a far less daunting prospect than Serbian winning machine Djokovic.
Also, 22-year-old Sinner will become the new world No1 for the first time on Monday when the rankings are updated, the first Italian to claim top spot.
Djokovic has less than four weeks to get ready for the first round of Wimbledon where he has been a seven-time winner.
What is a more plausible scenario is that he skips the grass swing and focuses fully on the Olympics, which are held at Roland Garros, where he desperately wants that singles gold medal.
Former Wimbledon champ and Djokovic’s ex-coach Boris Becker told Eurosport: “It’s a serious injury and it won’t go away tomorrow.
“That leaves me a bit speechless. You need your knees on grass, you really do slip all the time.
“A torn medial meniscus is a serious injury and the question naturally arises as to whether surgery is necessary.”
