Djokovic has a torn meniscus

[samhexum]

He was forced to withdraw from his upcoming match and will lose his #1 ranking.

[+ Charlie]

And he played through an entire match with it!

[BSR]

I'm not that bothered that he had to withdraw from Roland Garros because he was never going to win it anyway.  But I do worry that he'll have to miss Wimbledon, where he does have a decent chance.  If it's a bad tear, he might even miss the Olympics.  If he does miss the Paris Olympics, ouch! because Novak desperately wants that gold medal, and this summer is his last chance.

Roland Garros is guaranteed to crown a first-time men's singles champion because none of the guys left in the draw has won the title.  My pick is Sinner, with Alcaraz a strong number 2.  I'll be surprised if either Ruud or Zverev takes it, and I'll keel over if de Miñaur hoists the trophy.

[BSR]

The French sports daily L'Équipe was the first to report that Novak Djokovic had surgery this morning to repair his torn meniscus.  Wow, just 1 day after diagnosis! 

Novak had an elbow injury in the 2nd half of 2016 and all of 2017, but decided on surgery in early 2018 only after exhausting all natural healing options for those 18 months.  None of that kumbaya sh*t this time, LOL.

I'm guessing that part of this change in mentality is due to Novak's desperation to have one last chance at Olympic gold.  Recovery time will be ~3 weeks, which all but kills his chances of playing Wimbledon.  In 2021, Taylor Fritz also tore his meniscus at Roland Garros but recovered from surgery in just 3 weeks and was able to play Wimbledon, although he was a lot younger then (just 23) than Novak is now (37!). Also, Fritz was just looking to play some matches & win some prize money whereas Novak enters a Slam only if he thinks he can win it.

While shut out of Wimbledon, Novak should be good to go for the Paris Olympics, where the tennis starts on July 27.  He's been very open & vocal about just how much he wants that gold medal.  Hey, at least he still has a chance.

[BSR]

I might have been wrong about Novak's chances of playing Wimbledon.  Right now, it's looking more likely that he chooses to play.  He's in London and practicing on grass.  After a 2.5 hour practice session, which included playing 2 practice sets with #71 Fede Coria, apparently the knee is fine.  While video showed him playing with much restraint & caution, Novak commented "I like my trajectory."

If Novak does pull out, the most likely time would be immediately before the draw ceremony this Friday.  If he's still undecided, his first match will be scheduled for next Tuesday, July 2.

Since Alcaraz lost early at Queens, he dropped to #3, making Novak the #2 seed at the Big W.  That means that there's a 50/50 chance that Alcaraz & Sinner end up in the same half of the draw.  If that happens and then Novak pulls out, oooh, fans are going to be royally pissed.  But my humble opinion is that Novak's gonna play.

The tweet below has the selfies that Fede took after playing his boyhood idol Novak for the first time.  Instead of being upset from the shellacking (Novak beat him 61 60), Coria was all smiles and just asked Novak for a selfie.  Fede took some flak for his shameless fanboying, but I don't blame the guy.  Anyone who meets his childhood idol for the first time is going to be pretty gushy.