Injured Djokovic is ‘out of Wimbledon’
NOVAK Djokovic is to undergo knee surgery in Paris which will rule him out of Wimbledon, according to reports in France.
The 24-time grand slam champion suffered the injury during his five-set win over Francisco Cerundolo in the French Open fourth round on Monday.
Djokovic underwent an MRI scan on Tuesday which revealed a torn medial meniscus in his right knee and forced him to withdraw from the tournament.
L’equipe report that Djokovic had surgery yesterday which would make his participation at Wimbledon, which begins on July 1, virtually impossible.
But the 37-year-old could be fit in time for the Paris Olympics, with the tennis event also being played at Roland Garros and beginning on July 27.
Djokovic won a bronze medal in 2008 and has made no secret of his desire to add a gold to his glittering career record.
Johnny Wilson, lead physiotherapist at 108 Harley Street, would not completely rule out Djokovic competing at Wimbledon but branded it “very unlikely”.
Wilson said: “They’ve gone for surgery to give him the best opportunity to make Wimbledon, I’ve no doubt about that. You won’t make a decision that quick if there isn’t something impending. The Olympics is more likely.”
Djokovic prefers natural remedies to surgical interventions and revealed he cried for several days after undergoing an elbow operation in 2018, so the fact he has made this decision so quickly telling.
“For an athlete who’s at the latter stages of his career, time is not your friend,” said Wilson.
“It will also depend on the actual tear. There are different types of meniscal tears. Some of them can be managed conservatively whereas some do better with surgery. Surgery kind of is a last-case scenario.
“The medial meniscus and lateral meniscus are crucial for the health of the knee – lateral meniscus more so.
“The fact he is having surgery would say it’s a significant derangement of the medial meniscus.”
Shaun O’brien, consultant orthopaedic surgeon and knee specialist, believes Djokovic’s age and the urgency of the situation is likely to have influenced him to undergo a minor procedure. is
“If he was Carlos Alcaraz’s age, I’m sure they would go for a meniscal cartilage repair because he’s got 10, 15 years of a long professional career ahead of him and they want to try to preserve that knee as long as possible,” said O’brien.
“But, if they repair it, he would be out for several months, there would be no way he would play Wimbledon or the Olympics.
“But, if they just trim back the little bit that’s torn, he’ll be back into light training in about three to four weeks’ time with the hope of maybe getting back to some competitive tennis round about six to eight weeks’ time.
“I’ve got no idea about where the tear is, what the configuration is, how big it is, but he’s probably had it trimmed back a little bit to give him the best chance of playing in the Olympics.”
The seven-time Wimbledon winner gave no hints of a recovery period in an statement on Tuesday afternoon.
He said: “I am really sad to announce that I have to withdraw from Roland Garros.
“I played with my heart and gave my all in yesterday’s match and unfortunately, due to a medial meniscus tear in my right knee, my team and I had to make a tough decision after careful consideration and consultation.”
The Serbian’s withdrawal from Roland Garros not only cost him the chance to defend his title but also the world number one ranking, with Italian Jannik Sinner to rise to top spot on Monday.
Djokovic was due to play Norwegian seventh seed Casper Ruud, who is now straight through to the semifinals.
Saturday’s Betfred Challenge Cup final between Wigan and Warrington will kick-off at 3.07pm in honour of former Leeds Rhinos scrum-half Rob Burrow.
Burrow died aged 41 on Sunday after a fourand-a-half-year battle with motor neurone disease and the Rugby League will pay homage at Wembley to one of its all-time greats.
A minute’s silence will be observed before both the men’s and women’s Challenge Cup finals – the latter kicks off at Wembley at 11.45am – and there will also be a minute’s applause after seven minutes.
Since Burrow (pictured) was diagnosed with MND in 2019, he and former Leeds teammate Kevin Sinfield have raised millions of pounds to raise awareness of the disease in their bid to help find a cure.
Money raised has funded the Rob Burrow Centre for MND at Seacroft Hospital,
Leeds, and Burrow’s family attended an emotional
Xander Schauffele believes Jon Rahm overestimated his possible influence on the outcome of golf’s civil war when he joined LIV Golf.
The Spaniard stunned the sport when he joined the Saudi-funded breakaway in December.
Ahead of his Masters title defence in April, the Spaniard said he hoped his move would “expedite” an agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) following the Framework Agreement which was announced on June 6 last year. groundbreaking ceremony on Monday. Burrow won eight Super League titles during his career with the Rhinos and following his retirement in 2017 and MND diagnosis two years later, he came to the attention of a wider audience.
RL commercial managing director Rhodri Jones said: “Once the shock and sadness of Sunday night’s news had sunk in, we recognised the responsibility to provide a fitting celebration of a Rugby League superhero.
“We are grateful to BBC Sport and Wembley Stadium for their support – and to all involved with the six clubs and two schools who will be playing at Wembley on
Saturday.
“Challenge Cup Final day has a great tradition of the Rugby League family coming together - this year, for reasons none would have chosen, we will be united in grief, but also in paying suitable tribute to a player who has transcended the sport.”
Asked ahead of the Memorial Tournament if more battles of the kind he had with LIV’S Bryson Dechambeau in the final round of the US PGA Championship would speed up the process, Schauffele suggested only one man – Tiger Woods – could have a significant impact.
He added: “It’s just going to run its course. There’s a lot of things people don’t realise that need to occur for things to go back together, for everyone to sort of shake hands and move along.
“There’s been so much damage that’s been done.”