Novak Djokovic Noncommittal on Playing French Open Quarterfinals Due to Injury

Novak Djokovic came from behind on Monday at Roland Garros for the second straight match as he won a five-set thriller over the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo to advance to the French Open quarterfinals.

Djokovic won the first set in dominant 6-1 fashion before losing sets two and three, but was able to hang on for a victory, winning the final two sets 7-5 and 6-3.

It wasn’t easy for the tournament’s No. 1 seed, though, who’s been batting a knee injury for a couple weeks. Djokovic took a medical timeout in the second set of Monday’s game, and said after the match that he considered retiring from the match altogether.

Djokovic’s trainer gave him a maximum dose of medicine, which Djokovic said kicked in towards the end of the fourth set, and helped propel him towards victory.

“(That’s) when things started to really improve for me,” Djokovic said. “I started to feel less limitations in my movement. Basically the whole fifth set was almost without any pain, which is great, you know.”

Djokovic was able to hang in there, and ended up winning his record 370th career Grand Slam match, passing Roger Federer for the most all-time. He now has a quarterfinal matchup against the No. 7-seeded Casper Ruud scheduled for Wednesday, but said after Monday’s match that he doesn’t yet know if he’ll be able to play.

“I don’t know until (Tuesday) if I can step out and play,” Djokovic said. “I hope so. … Let’s see what happens.”

Djokovic said the initial scans on his knee are good, but he still has some concerns, and will get more scans on Tuesday. By then, he will have a better sense of his availability for Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup.

Djokovic’s win on Monday was his second consecutive five-set, come-from-behind win. In the third round, Djokovic came back from down two sets to one to beat Lorenzo Musetti in a match that lasted until after 3 a.m. local time.

At age 37, Djokovic has now played back-to-back four-plus hour matches. He’s willed his way to the quarterfinals, but faces a tall task to reach another semifinal round at a major.

Ruud, 25, took down the American Taylor Fritz in four sets on Monday. He’s never won the French Open, but has finished as the runner-up in each of the last two years. Last year, Ruud lost to Djokovic in the final. In 2022, Ruud lost to Rafael Nadal in the final.