Coco Gauff shared her thoughts on Novak Djokovic’s shock withdrawal from the French Open.
The tennis world was left stunned after hearing the tournament’s defending champion will play no further part after suffering a right knee injury.
An MRI scan revealed a tear in his meniscus and it is currently unknown how long the 37-year-old will be out of action.
Several players have issued a response to the news including Gauff who admitted she was left surprised by the announcement.
What did Coco Gauff say about Novak Djokovic’s injury?
Gauff commented on Djokovic’s injury after she reached the semi-finals of the French Open for the second time in her career.
She came from behind to defeat Ons Jabeur and book a spot in the last four against her arch-nemesis Iga Swiatek.
When asked about the Serbian, the third seed told reporters that she felt as though he could go on and successfully defend his Roland Garros following his two heroic five-set victories over Lorenzo Musetti and Francisco Cerundolo.
“I was very surprised. I watched his match, the last two or three sets against Cerundolo,” Gauff told reporters. “I saw he was physically struggling and I honestly thought he was on the verge of losing. But something about him, I thought if you get through a match like that he would win the title.
“Obviously I feel like I don’t want to put any words in his mouth, but I think it probably came just from the last start and then the matches went five sets back to back. Hopefully the injury is not too serious and he can be ready for Wimbledon.”
Coco Gauff moves into her second Roland Garros semi-final
Gauff found herself a set down to Jabeur in their quarter-final battle, but the 20-year-old’s consistency and mental strength helped turn the match in her favour.
She began to extract more errors from the Tunisian’s’ racket and eventually wore her down to complete a 4-6 6-2 6-3 win.
“I was trying to be more aggressive, she was playing really well and hitting a lot of winners – which I’m not used to,” Gauff said afterwards. “I got a little bit tight but I did what I needed to do.”
She will face World number one Swiatek for the third successive year at Roland Garros after the Pole defeated Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2.
“Against Coco it isn’t easy,” the 22-year-old said post match. “She really likes clay, especially here. I’ll just focus on myself and I’ll prepare tactically and we’ll see.”
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