With Carlos Alcaraz being the center of attention for the past few days, the tennis world went a bit silent on Novak Djokovic. Ever since the former World No.1 player bowed out of the French Open after injuring his knee, tennis fans and aficionados have been eagerly awaiting his return to the court. Turns out, they might have to wait a bit longer, as Djokovic’s doctor gave an update on his injury on Monday.
Novak Djokovic slipped and fell many times during his stunning 5-setter game against Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round. Although Djokovic won the match, he injured his knee in one of those falls and blamed it on the below-par surface. Djokovic claimed there was an uneven distribution of clay on both sides of the court.
Owing to his injury, he had to forfeit his quarter-final match against Casper Ruud. As the tournament moved on, Djokovic moved out to get his bad knee treated. Now, his doctor shared an unfortunate update about the 37-year-old Serb in an interview with French publication, L’Equipe.
Antoine Gerometta revealed that Djokovic’s injury is serious enough to prevent him from stepping onto the court anytime soon. This also means that the 24-time Grand Slam winner mostly won’t get a chance to compete at Wimbledon in three weeks.
The doctor who performed Djokovic’s knee surgery says it is unlikely that Novak will be 100% in three weeks for Wimbledon https://t.co/HCBEAzgk3L pic.twitter.com/4TCs8PgTJY
— Olly (@Olly_Tennis_) June 10, 2024
This comes days after Djokovic announced on X that his surgery went well. He also expressed confidence that he might be back playing the sport he loves very soon. That is what makes the doctor’s recent update even more shocking to tennis fans.
In the past day, I had to make some tough decisions after sustaining a meniscus tear during my last match. I’m still processing it all but I am happy to update you that the surgery went well.
I am so appreciative of the team of doctors who have been by my side… pic.twitter.com/RYLeR5KW2P
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 6, 2024
Many of his fans, who are already angry at the French Open officials for terrible management, got angrier after they failed to reach out to Djokovic to pay attention to his complaints. Especially since it was their slippery court that caused the damage.
Novak Djokovic Could Tumble Further in ATP Rankings
After reigning at the top spot for a long time, Novak Djokovic slipped in the ATP world rankings recently. The Serb is now at No. 3, who is preceded by Carlos Alcaraz at No.2 and Jannik Sinner at No.1. After winning 3 out of 4 Grand Slams last year, Djokovic came into this ATP calendar year on a high. He was also the oldest World No.1 player for a while.
But after losing in 6 ATP tournaments this year, including 2 Grand Slams, Djokovic finally lost his spot. At the start of this year, the points gap between him and Daniil Medvedev (who was No.2 at the time) was huge. But today, he stands at 8360 points, behind Alcaraz’s 8580 and Sinner’s 9525.
Things can get worse for Djokovic soon, as he has 2000 points to defend at Wimbledon 2024. And if he can’t compete, which seems likely, he might allow Alexander Zverev (6885) and Medvedev (6485) to close in on him.
Djokovic might next play at the Olympics in nearly 6 weeks time from now. Ironically, he will then be back playing at the Philippe Chatrier itself, where he got injured in the first place. Is this the beginning of the end of Novak Djokovic’s illustrious career? Or does the 37-year-old have it in him to make one last comeback? Time will tell.
