Novak Djokovic’s reign is over.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Djokovic formally withdrew from the French Open as we speak as a result of proper knee harm he sustained his heroic 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 comeback conquest of Francisco Cerundolo in a 4 hour, 39-minute combat to achieve his 18th Roland Garros quarterfinal in 20 profession appearances.
The 37-year-old Serbian famous person suffered a torn medial meniscus in his proper knee forcing him out of the French Open.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion’s withdrawal sends two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud into the semifinals on a walkover.
The seventh-seeded Ruud will face both Olympic gold-medal champion Alexander Zverev or Eleventh-seeded Aussie Alex de Minaur for a spot in Sunday’s closing.
Djokovic’s departure indicators a seismic shift within the sport.
Djokovic has withdrawn from Roland-Garros attributable to a proper knee harm.
Wishing Novak a speedy restoration 🧡 pic.twitter.com/Ilb6HynTzw
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2024
World No. 2 Jannik Sinner, who’s chasing his second straight Grand Slam crown in Paris, will surpass Djokovic as new world No. 1 when the rankings are launch on Monday.
It’s a historic rise for Sinner, who dethroned Djokovic in a four-set semifinal win in Melbourne en path to his maiden main on the Australian Open.
Sinner turns into the primary Italian man to rise to world No. 1 and the twenty ninth man to ascend to the highest spot because the creation of the ATP rankings.
“It represents a fantastic results of work ethic,” Sinner instructed Tennis Channel’s Jon Wertheim afterward. “It was one among our targets this yr, however crucial objective is to at all times enhance as a participant and as an individual, surrounding myself with nice folks and that’s it.
“I believe I could be very glad and happy with what I’m doing and what my group is doing. Simply wanting ahead to semis in the meanwhile. It’s not, for positive, the way in which I wished to turn out to be No. 1 as Novak was retiring, however within the final interval I performed some actually good tennis. I’m glad to be in that place. It’s one thing new developing for me. Its one thing good, so I’m very glad.”
Remarkably, Djokovic accomplished a gritty comeback win over Cerundolo whereas enjoying with a torn meniscus, a testomony to his dedication.
The query is: Can Djokovic recuperate for Wimbledon and/or the Paris Olympic Video games, which begin subsequent month at Roland Garros?
Solely three former French Open champions—14-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal, 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka and Djokovic— had been within the discipline when the match started. Now, all three future Corridor of Famers are gone, which implies Roland Garros will crown a maiden males’s champion for the primary time since Djokovic rallied from a set all the way down to defeat Andy Murray within the 2016 closing.
Within the aftermath of his second straight marathon win on Monday, Djokovic mentioned he thought-about retiring in the course of the fourth-round and revealed he had felt discomfort in his proper knee for a pair weeks.
“I’ve had, I’d say, slight discomfort, I’d name it that manner, in the suitable knee, however I haven’t had an harm that may be regarding me in any respect,” Djokovic instructed the media in Paris after his marathon win over Cerundolo. “I used to be enjoying just a few tournaments with it, and no points till as we speak.”
