The injury to the meniscus of his right knee, which left him out of Roland Garros and without the number one in the world, forced Serbian Novak Djokovic to go through the operating room to accelerate recovery times in order to be able to be present at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In Monday’s game for the round of 16 against Argentinian Francisco Cerúndolo, Djokovic suffered a torn medial meniscus in his right knee and yesterday he announced that he would not be able to continue in the second Grand Slam of the season, in which he was defending the title. The Serbian had to play in the quarterfinals against Norway’s Casper Ruud.
L’Equipe confirmed the intervention of Djokovic, who will have about three weeks of recovery, so his presence at Wimbledon is practically ruled out. The tournament in London will start on July 1 and the Serbian has to defend last year’s final, so his absence would also be marked in a ranking that will be led by Italian Jannik Sinner starting Monday.
“In the third game of the second set, I slipped, one of the many times that happened to me today. And that affected my knee. My injury could have been prevented. I had no problems in other tournaments, until today. Finishing the previous game so late (he played against Lorenzo Musetti until three in the morning) didn’t help me sleep, for the biorhythms, the recovery,” Novak explained after the match against Cerúndolo and also pointed to the situation on the court: “There were areas where there was no more clay left, only cement; perhaps due to the change in conditions, the sun and the heat, it seemed as if some dirt had been removed. I have fallen many times in my career, but I haven’t slipped as many times in the same game as this time. That’s exactly why the injury happened.”
If everything continues as planned, Djokovic’s return would be precisely on the same stage where he was injured. The thing is that after Wimbledon and a lawn that wouldn’t help his knee either, it will be time for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and that’s where the Serbian, who had his last operation in February 2018 for an elbow problem, points out.
The Olympic Games will officially begin on July 26, so there would be time for Djokovic to recover from the knee injury and try to achieve the only thing that his extraordinary career lacks: the gold medal.
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