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 The French Open announced Tuesday that the defending champion has withdrawn from the clay court Grand Slam with a right knee injury.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 four 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 semi-finals, where he will face either Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur.
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.