Novak Djokovic has explained what contributed to his injury at the French Open.
The World number one endured another tight five-set match in Paris and came out on top to reach the quarter-finals.
This is the 18th time the Serbian has reached the last eight at Roland Garros and Wednesday marks his 59th in Grand Slams overall.
Post match the 37-year-old said he injured his knee during an epic battle against Francisco Cerundolo on court Phillipe Chatrier, and explained what led to it.
Novak Djokovic dissects how French Open courts led to his injury
Djokovic came from two sets down to beat Cerundolo 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in four hours and 39 minutes. During the contest, he dealt with some pain in his right knee and at one point slipped and tumbled on the court.
Post match Djokovic blamed the surface and revealed a chat he had with the ground staff about the courts at Roland Garros, after noticing issues in a practice session beforehand.
“I’ve known the grounds people for many years and have had a great relationship with them. I talked to one of them today when I was warming up on the Centre Court before my match about sweeping the court, every second or third change over,” he said.
“Giving it a bit of extra care because I felt today with the sun coming out, thankfully, after long days of rain it has affected the court. It has affected the upper layers of the clay.
“I don’t know what they have done, it seems like some of the clay was removed, so there was very little – almost no clay on the court today.
“And because of the drier conditions it becomes very slippery. The injury today I had with the knee happened because of that, I slipped way too many times. That is quite unusual.”
Will Novak Djokovic play his next match at the French Open?
No. Following the problems he experienced with his knee during the match, Djokovic was forced to withdraw from the tournament.
“I have had a minor knee problem for a few weeks , but it is not a big deal. Then I slipped in the second set and I felt pain,” he said after the match.
“I took a lot of painkillers and they started to take effect at the end of the fourth. I don’t know if I will play in the quarterfinals , we will wait and see.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was due to play Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals, which would have been a rematch of the 2023 final.
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