Julius OkorieIt is not yet Uhuru for 24th Grand Slam winner, Novak Djokovic, in his quest to win the Olympic Gold medal, which appears to be the only elusive title in his collection.
Djokovic, who is the defending Champion of the ongoing French Open, at the Roland Garros, withdrew Tuesday in the quarterfinal, thus aborting what would have been a battle against Norwegian seventh seed, Casper Ruud, following injury.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe 37-year-old was gunning for his 25th Grand Slam. He had blamed the “slippery” Roland Garros clay courts, for aggravating the problem, during his fourth-round victory on Monday, forcing him to go for a scan on Tuesday, after which he announced his withdrawal.
The scan revealed the Serbian has torn medial meniscus in his right knee.
“I am really sad to announce that I have to withdraw,” Djokovic said.
“My team and I had to make a tough decision after careful consideration and consultation.”
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The injury did not only end his hopes of winning a 25th Grand Slam title, which would be an outright all-time record – on the Paris clay- but also potentially make him a doubt for the Paris Olympics.
He will also lose his status as the world number one, and be replaced by Italy’s Jannik Sinner after the French Open.
It remains to be seen if he will be able to regain fitness in time for Wimbledon, where he is a seven-time champion.
The grass-court championships start at the All England Club, on 1 July, while the Paris 2024 Olympics begin at Roland Garros, on 27 July.
Djokovic has not won an Olympic gold medal and made no secret that it was a key priority this year. It will be a race against time.
Djokovic missed the 2022 Australia Open, following his opposition to vaccination, forcing Authorities to cancel his visa. He however bounced back to reclaim the 2023 edition to take his Aussie Open title to ten.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
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