Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 tennis player in the world and highest-paid tennis player of last year, withdrew from the French Open ahead of the quarterfinals after hurting his knee in Monday’s round of 16 win—leading to questions of whether he will be able to play in Wimbledon or the Olympics this summer.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic receives medical assistance for his right knee during at he French Open ... [+]
An MRI scan revealed Djokovic had “a torn medial meniscus in his right knee,” the French Tennis Federation and Roland Garros confirmed to The Athletic.
Djokovic was scheduled to play his quarter final against seven-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud, who will now automatically advance to the semifinals.
Djokovic made a dramatic comeback in a four-and-a-half hour, five-set match to get the win over Francisco Cerundolo, the 23rd seed, on Monday despite suffering the knee injury in the second set that led to “significant trouble moving around the court,” according to Roland Garros.
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Whether Djokovic will be able to recover in time for Wimbledon, which is scheduled for July 1 through July 14, or the Olympics, which begin later in July.
Djokovic topped Forbes’ Highest-Paid Tennis Players of 2023 list last year with an estimated income of $38.4 million, $25 million of which was brought in off the court. In October, we estimated the 37-year-old Serbian had career pre-tax earnings of more than $510 million, including about $172 million in prize money.
- That’s how many Grand Slams Djokovic has won throughout his career, tying argaret Court's all-time record.