Djokovic pulls out of French Open, De Minaur avoids clash with world No.1

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the French Open with a knee injury, ensuring that Jannik Sinner will become the new men’s world No.1 and a new Roland Garros champion will be crowned in Paris.

Djokovic aggravated a right knee problem during his five-set win over Francisco Cerundolo, which was reported less than 24 hours later on Tuesday to be a torn medial meniscus.

Roland Garros organisers said: “Due to a torn medial meniscus in his right knee (discovered during an MRI scan performed today), Novak Djokovic, who was supposed to play Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals tomorrow, has been forced to withdraw from the Roland-Garros tournament.”

The withdrawal means that Australian star Alex de Minaur would play Norwegian seventh seed Ruud in Friday’s semi-finals should he beat Alexander Zverev in his quarter-final on Wednesday.

Ruud, the two-time finalist, gets a bye through to the last four in Djokovic’s absence.

Australian Open champion Sinner, just 22, will become the first Italian world No.1 when the new rankings are unveiled next week.

After beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday, Sinner had the news of his elevation to world No.1 broken to him on court by former French star Fabrice Santoro amid a standing ovation on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“What can I say? First of all, it’s every player’s dream to be No.1 in the world. In the other way, it’s disappointing for everyone that Novak is out and I wish him a speedy recovery,” said Sinner.