Tennis player Novak Djokovic is forced to withdraw from French Open due to a knee injury

(AFP / VOZ MEDIA) Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic had to withdraw from the French Open this Tuesday due to a knee injury, one day after his epic victory in the round of 16. As a result, he will lose his number 1 spot in the ATP ranking to Jannik Sinner.

The 37-year-old Serbian player defeated the Francisco Cerúndolo (N.27) on Monday, after taking a strong dose of anti-inflammatories. He went up against Casper Ruud (N.7) in the quarterfinals, similarly to the 2023 final, which he won.

During his match against Cerúndolo, Djokovic slipped during the second set, injuring his knee, preventing him from being able to play in the competition, as announced by the Parisian Grand Slam in a statement posted on X:

"For the last couple of weeks, I have had slight discomfort in my right knee, but I haven't had an injury that would concern me at all. I was playing a few tournaments with it, and had no issues until today. Then, in the third game of the second set, I slipped, one of the many times that I slipped and fell today. That affected the knee," he explained at a press conference on Monday.

"I don't know what will happen tomorrow or after tomorrow if I'll be able to step out on the court and play,” he warned, which made people wonder about the possible severity of his injury. Djokovic blamed the poor condition of the track and the lack of dirt as the cause.

Jannik Sinner rises to number 1 in the ATP ranking after Novak Djokovic pulls out

Djokovic’s withdrawal guarantees the number one spot to Jannik Sinner in the ATP ranking.

At 22 years old, Sinner will become the first Italian to hold the top ranking in the world next Monday, no matter how well he does in the French Open. This Tuesday, he played his quarterfinal match against Grigor Dimitrov (N.10), the same day that Djokovic made the tough decision to withdraw from the competition.

Djokovic has spent a record of 428 weeks at the top of world tennis rankings.