"Novak Djokovic should denounce French Open" "How many times did he ask for courts to be swept?": Fans shattered as Serb withdraws due to knee injury

Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the 2024 French Open has devastated tennis fans. The Serb’s decision came just a day before his quarterfinal match against Casper Ruud.

Djokovic pulled out of the claycourt Slam on Tuesday, June 4, despite eking out a 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win in his fourth-round match against Francisco Cerundolo the previous day.

It's worth noting, though, that the defending champion was struggling with a knee injury flare-up for the most part of the match, for which he received treatment between games and eventually resorted to painkillers. At the time, he also hinted that the uneven and slippery surface on Court Philippe Chatrier was to blame.

Monday’s five-setter was also Novak Djokovic’s second such win of the tournament, having won a third-round marathon against Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, in what was the latest finish recorded in French Open history (3:06 a.m.).

In his post-match press conference following the win against Cerundolo, Djokovic had cast doubts over his quarterfinal appearance, courtesy of his aggravated right knee issue. On Tuesday, after undergoing MRI scan, he was forced to withdraw, as the results revealed a medial meniscus tear in his right knee.

Tennis fans were disheartened by the news.

"This has to be a pretty bad injury. I wonder if we will see him again," one fan said.

"Makes you wonder if being on court until 3.07am and then playing again the next day is wise, doesn’t it?" one fan noted.

"So annoyed with people on TL saying that he faked injury yesterday. If you understand a bit of Tennis, you will guage that a 37 year old who has played a 5 setter in a night session won't bother pulling off this stunt to stretch it to another 5 setter," another fan said.

Many of the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s supporters were also miffed by the circumstances that led to his French Open withdrawal.

"I guess the Roland Garros employees, the supervisor and the umpires that refused to sweep the court are celebrating right now. How many times did Novak have to ask for the courts to be swept? Congratulations, your strategy worked. Get well soon," wrote a fan.

"Djokovic should denounce the tournament because this is an injury that could have been avoided by simply sweeping the court. A disgrace, it was not a player who took him off the courts, it was the ineptitude of the organization and the Roland Garros Tournament," yet another fan chimed in.

Here are a few more reactions:

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What Novak Djokovic said about the knee injury before his French Open 2024 withdrawal: "I was playing a few tournaments with it and had no issues until today"

Novak Djokovic pictured at the 2024 French Open (Image Source: Getty)

In his post-match press conference after the fourth round at the French Open, Novak Djokovic revealed that he had been dealing with the aforementioned knee injury for a couple of week but wasn’t too bothered by it before he slipped during his match against Francisco Cerundolo.

"For the last couple of weeks, I had slight discomfort in the right knee but I haven't had an injury that would be concerning me at all. I was playing a few tournaments with it and had no issues until today," he said.

"In the third game of the second set, I slipped, one of the many times that I slipped and fell, that affected the knee," Novak Djokovic added.

The Serb said that the injury disrupted his play and he was on the fence about continuing with the match.

"It did disrupt me, definitely, in play," he added. "At one point, I didn't know to be honest whether I should continue or not."

Novak Djokovic, who's now set to lose his World No. 1 ranking to Jannik Sinner, also questioned why his persistent requests to even the French Open court were denied by officials.

"I'm just trying to understand why it is so complicated to do that and why is that the answer is constantly no," he said.

"When you're moving during the point you're removing the clay and then all of a sudden some places you have absolutely no clay it's just concrete basically," he added.