Novak Djokovic’s quest to win all four major tournaments in one year will have to wait until 2025. The French Open announced Tuesday that the defending champion has withdrawn from the clay court Grand Slam with a right knee injury.
No further details regarding the knee injury were announced. It’s unknown when it happened, but he struggled with it during Monday’s epic five-set battle against Francisco Cerundolo. The match lasted 4 hours and 39 minutes and Djokovic needed on-court treatment at least once.
Djokovic was scheduled to face No. 7 Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Ruud will be awarded a victory (although not a victory) and will automatically advance to the semifinals, where he will face either Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur, who are scheduled to play on Wednesday.
Withdrawing from Roland Garros means Djokovic will lose the number one spot in the ATP rankings. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner, who just defeated Grigor Dimitrov to advance to the semifinals, should become the next No. 1 no matter how he finishes at the French Open.
Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff prepare for 2023 finals rematch
Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff continue to meet at the French Open. A year after battling in the Roland Garros final, Swiatek, the world number one, and Gauff, the world number three, will meet in the semifinals on Thursday.
Swiatek, a clay court virtuoso, is in another decisive moment at Roland Garros. So far he has been a wrecking ball, demolishing all but one of his opponents in straight sets. (That was Naomi Osaka, who forced a third set against Swiatek in the second round before retiring.) She defeated Anastasia Potapova in the fourth round, winning 6-0, 6-0, and then won a third straight set 6-0. she will face Marketa Vondrousova on Tuesday. It took Vondrousova more than 35 minutes to win her first game against Swiatek, and she was only able to win one more before Iga completely overwhelmed her.
That will be a lot for Gauff, but he knows what to expect against Swiatek. Her match against Iga in the 2023 final was Gauff’s first Grand Slam final, and a year later it has only made her more mature and ready to try again. Gauff had a little more trouble against Ons Jabeur in their quarterfinal match on Tuesday. She couldn’t find the right shots against the world number one in the first set, but eventually prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Alcaraz beats Tsitsipas in straight sets and will face Sinner in the semifinals
In a top-10 quarterfinal matchup, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz defeated No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. The win sets up a top-three semi-final clash where Alcaraz will face second-placed Sinner.
Alcaraz reaches the semifinal for the second time in his career. Djokovic defeated then-top-ranked Alcaraz in four sets in the 2023 semifinal en route to winning his third French Open title. Alcaraz, a two-time major champion (2022 US Open, 2023 Wimbledon), will seek to advance to the French Open final for the first time.
Sinner is also looking to advance to his first French Open final. He earned his first career Grand Slam victory with a comeback victory over Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open in January.
