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Tennis pundit has pinpointed the moment Novak Djokovic’s injury worsened during French Open match with Francisco Cerundolo

Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
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A tennis pundit has identified what contributed to Novak Djokovic’s injury getting significantly worse.

The World number one was dealt a huge blow when he suffered a knee injury during his Roland Garros fourth match against Francisco Cerundolo on Monday.

The Serbian took a medical time out during the five set encounter to treat the issue and was given some painkillers.

Once they kicked in he began to regain some movement and soon reached a level of play that enabled him to recover from a break down in the fourth set to beat Cerundolo 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

But the 37-year-old is now paying a heavy price for his heroics as he has been forced to withdraw from Roland Garros and is now recovering from knee surgery.

Alex Corretja pinpoints what made Novak Djokovic’s knee injury worse

At one point during Monday’s contest, Djokovic slipped and tumbled on the court and was struggling to move to his forehand side.

During an appearance on Eurosport, Alex Corretja identified when he believes the World number one’s injury reached the point where he would have to spend some time out of action.

“Going into the grass-court season, the summer is going to be very important. I hope he’s only going to take a few days to come back,” the Spaniard said.

“We agree that having those back-to-back matches affected everything; his body, his knee. That slide that he did provoked it a little bit more.

“Now, there’s no time to blame anyone. It happens, it’s tennis. He needs to recover, and that’s the most important thing. I wish him the best of luck, always.”

French Open Tennis Tournament. Roland-Garros 2024.
Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

Will Novak Djokovic play at the Olympics?

According to French media outlet L’Equipe, Djokovic had knee surgery on Wednesday and he is expected to be out of action for at least three weeks.

This means he is set to miss Wimbledon which begins on July 1, and will aim to be fit for the Olympics which begins July 27th.

While on Eurosport Mats Wilander urged the 24-time Grand Slam champion to prioritise making it back to Paris, as the Olympics’ tennis event will be played at Roland Garros.

“We know Novak is keen to play for a couple more years. Hopefully, he can get back,” the Swede said. “Wimbledon is important, but the Olympics is way more important for Novak Djokovic. That’s what he has to get ready for.”