3 instances when Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic withdrew during the French Open

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are among the greatest tennis players of all time. Each of the three have dominated the sport in their prime, winning a combined 66 Grand Slams.

As far as the French Open is concerned, each of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have tasted success. Nadal is the most successful competitor in the history of the tournament, with 14 titles to his name while Djokovic has won it thrice in 2016, 2021 and 2023.

Roger Federer's only title at the clay-court Major came in 2009 and he also has another four final appearances to his name. While all three have had some great moments at Roland Garros, there have also been instances when their fitness troubles got the better of them.

On that note, let's take a look at three occasions when Nadal, Federer and Djokovic withdrew from the French Open during the tournament.

#3. Rafael Nadal- 2016

Rafael Nadal entered the 2016 French Open with 15 wins out of 17 matches during the European clay-court season. This included title wins at the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open.

The Spaniard was seeded fourth at the tournament and started with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win over Sam Groth. He then registered another comfortable win, this time beating Facundo Bagnis 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 to set up a third-round clash against compatriot Marcel Granollers.

However, Nadal eventually withdrew from the tournament ahead of his match, citing a wrist injury he had for a while.

"Well, just, hello. I'm here to announce that I have to retire from the tournament because I have a problem in my wrist that I have had a couple of weeks. Every day that happens is stronger, and I arrived here with a little bit of pain but something that I think I was able to manage," Nadal said at a press conference.

"Every day was a little bit worse. We tried to do all the treatments possible. Every single day we spent a lot of hours here working so hard to try to play. Yesterday I played with an injection on the wrist with anesthetic, just to sleep my wrist, to play," he added.

Nadal said that he underwent some tests and the results were not positive. The then-29-year-old claimed that while his wrist wasn't broken, he could suffer that fate if he carried on playing.

"I could play, but the thing is yesterday night I start to feel more and more pain, and today in the morning I feel that I could not move much the wrist. So I came here, I did MRI, and I did echography. Well, and the results are not positive. The real thing is not 100%, you know. It's not broken, but if I keep playing gonna be broken next couple of day," Nadal said.

After the French Open, Nadal only won ten out of 16 matches during the remainder of the 2016 season. His best performance in that period was a fourth-place finish at the Olympics.

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#2. Roger Federer- 2021

The French Open was only the third tournament for Roger Federer in 2021. The Swiss was seeded eighth and started with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 win over Denis Istomin before following it up with 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory against Marin Cilic.

Federer then suffered a scare from Dominik Koepfer and triumphed 7-6(5), 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 7-5 to set up a fourth-round clash against Matteo Berrettini. However, he withdrew from the tournament with the objective to not put too much pressure on his body after his knee surgeries.

"After discussions with my team, I've decided I will need to pull out of Roland-Garros today," Federer said via a statement released by the French Open. "After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation it's important that I listen to my body and make sure I don't push myself too quickly on my road to recovery.

The 2021 French Open turned out to be Federer's last appearance at the clay-court Major as he retired from tennis the following year.

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#3. Novak Djokovic- 2024

Novak Djokovic entered this season's edition of the French Open as the World No. 1 and defending champion. The Serb hadn't been in the best of form in 2024 but he started the tournament strongly, defeating Pierre-Hugues 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-4 before registering a comfortable 6-4,6-1, 6-2 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena.

The Serb then faced 30th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the third round and started the match well by taking the opening set 67-5. However, the Italian bounced back and won the next two sets 7-6(6), 6-2.

Now, it was Djokovic's turn to bounce back, and he dominated the next two sets to register a 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory and reach the fourth round. Here, he faced 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo.

The Serb was in a similar situation, as he found himself trailing by a set after three sets. However, he once again fought back and won 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to secure his place in the quarterfinals.

Here, Djokovic was supposed to take on seventh Casper Ruud in a rematch of last year's French Open final. However, he announced his withdrawal from the tournament due to a meniscus tear in his right knee, thus ending his title defense.

"I am really sad to announce that I have to withdraw from Roland Garros. I played with my heart and gave my all in yesterday’s match and unfortunately, due to a medial meniscus tear in my right knee, my team and I had to make a tough decision after careful consideration and consultation.

As a result of his withdrawal, Novak Djokovic also lost the No. 1 ranking to Jannik Sinner.