Djokovic has withdrawn from RG2024

thrust

Legend
A torn meniscus is bad, probably puts his Wimbledon participation at big risk and possibly could even end his season if surgery is required. This is sad, but almost every great losesE

Damn. Such a pity. It's never nice to see when great player withdraws from the tournament due to injury, and very bad injury to be exact...

If someone wanted Novak to lose, we definitely wanted different scenario, by beating him fair and square and not by injury.

Take care Novak fans, i know it's probably hard to digest. But hey i know how you feel. Trust me. I am Rafa fan after all ;)
NO great athlete lasts forever.
 

weakera

Talk Tennis Guru
I would think any doctor would advise a professional athlete to NOT play competitively if they actually have a torn meniscus. There are exceptions but I can’t imagine any medical advisor would say it’s safe to play thru it.

Djokovic doesn't use conventional doctors
 

btsjungkook

Professional
Damn, what tough luck. To think he could've won the CYGS last year if he didn't lose to Alcaraz at Wimbledon. Things can change so quickly in sport, hope he recovers soon.
 
Wow, first I’m hearing about this today! He’s got to be gutted. Any chance he could play Wimbledon? Sorry haven’t read the thread yet, I will.
its a torn miniscus, so id think minimum 4 weeks out which means no wimbledon. Olympics is 7 weeks awayso thats now a bit at risk. TheOlympics was what Djokovic craved so i would think he will have taken this decison with the Olympics in mind. He could possibly have had a cortisone injection into the knee to get through this event but that would have ended the Olympic dream.
 

paolo2143

Hall of Fame
I've heard that he will not be playing on grass, he will stay on clay to try for Olympics, so Wimbledon is out.
I haven't hear that officially yet Hitman but i would think you are correct. Even if minor tear that could heal on its own he will be out 6 weeks minimum so if lucky could make Olympics, if not then who knows if he will even make US open.
 

AgassiSuperSlam11

Hall of Fame
Was it a Grade 1,2, or 3 tear? Tennis in the Olympics begins on July 27 would be very dicey to start playing regardless of Grade. The North American HC swing sounds more reasonable unless it's something minor. Did anyone see the MRI film outside of the team?
 

kishnabe

Talk Tennis Guru
If it something small, that he can recover in 2-3 weeks. Hopefully, he skips Wimbledon and prioritizes Olympics.

I would have preferred to see him get knocked out by Casper or Sinner/Alcaraz.
 
If it something small, that he can recover in 2-3 weeks. Hopefully, he skips Wimbledon and prioritizes Olympics.

I would have preferred to see him get knocked out by Casper or Sinner/Alcaraz.
If it was that minor i doubt he would have pulled out tbh not after all that effort. Even the most minor tear is 4 weeks out so with the Olympics 7 weeks away its a tough ask for him to be in good shape for the Olympics.
However it maybe the Olympics is that big a deal to him he is sacrificing the FO and W to ensure he is fit.
 

duaneeo

Legend
I truly wanted to know if 37 year old Djokovic was finally old enough for the likes of Ruud and Zverev to beat him at a slam. We may never know.
 

Better_Call_Raul

Hall of Fame
If it was that minor i doubt he would have pulled out tbh not after all that effort. Even the most minor tear is 4 weeks out so with the Olympics 7 weeks away its a tough ask for him to be in good shape for the Olympics.
However it maybe the Olympics is that big a deal to him he is sacrificing the FO and W to ensure he is fit.

Djoker does not trust medical doctors and surgery. It remains to be seen how this will be handled. This could be the end.
 
Djoker does not trust medical doctors and surgery. It remains to be seen how this will be handled. This could be the end.
Did he not say he had some issues with his knee for a few weeks? If that is true, i suspect it is the end tbh as that would mean surgery. The question then is why on earth did he play the FO.
 

Waves

Semi-Pro
There's no way to even begin to accurately guess at outcomes with this injury. More so than almost any athletic injury, a "meniscus tear" can mean about 500 different things, many of which are so different it's tough to say they're even the same injury. Depends on where it is (medial/lat, white or red), depends on grade, depends on where the excess tissue is (if it's causing knee to lock up, click or get stiff), depends on type and shape of tear, depends on candidacy for surgery and what type of surgery (itself a complex analysis). Half of pro players over 35 probably have use-based complex meniscus tears if you were to really to go in and explore everything directly from every angle. These can get pretty bad before they even notice. MRI is notoriously bad for definitive answers on this stuff.

Also, the expression of very similar tears is very different, a function of how the brain is interpreting the tear. A guy with a small/moderate partial but clean tear might feel 99% for years even while running while another guy with the same tear can barely walk and has his knee "give way" when under load.

If it's his first one and it's not too bad, most can be handled with surgery in a way that gets you back to 90%+ within 3 months (or 6 months depending on surgery). Basically Federer 2016.

Medial is a better injury for athletes (what he has). Tough to say anything beyond that. You also can't read too much into the fact that he finished his match. These injuries often first express themselves 12+ hours after the injury. A lot of times people don't even know what point/play they hurt themselves on.

…this^…
 

AgassiSuperSlam11

Hall of Fame
Does Djokovic have a legal case against the tournament? He complained numerous times on camera, to the supervisor, about the condition of the topsoil, and was ignored by the powers-that-are. His falls likely the direct cause of the tear.

Winner's prize money, lost subsequent tournament earnings, plus pain and suffering?

Depends, if he signed a waiver of liability. The tournament according to Djokovic had both actual and constructive notice as you said he asked grounds people if they could sweep the court more often as he felt they had removed clay and because of the sun and drier conditions it become more slippery (his words in the conference not mine). I don't think there is any slam-dunk on premises liability depending on French liability laws and the assumption of risk and also due to the nature of the sport which inherently carries contributory negligence. Of course, with any complaint there would be relief and damages sought that includes loss earnings with pain and suffering.

HYPOTHETICAL LANGUAGE AND NO LIABILITY IS SUGGESTED OR INTENDED BY POSTER OR TTW. Language might be something like this rubbish:

Defendants were reckless, careless and negligent in failing to maintain the premises and court in a safe condition; failing to provide the players with a safe
means of playing without being exposed to a hazardous, slippery, defective, and dangerous condition; in allowing the removal of clay to create a wet and slippery condition; in causing, allowing and permitting to remain in a dangerous, slippery, hazardous, unsupervised, and unsafe condition; in causing, allowing and permitting a dangerous and slippery condition to exist without notice or warning of same; failing to properly sweep the court as necessary to preserve the clay surface in a safe condition; allowing a trap-like dangerous, and defective condition to exist; failing to take proper care of the court; making a haphazard and non-workmanlike repair/patch; failing to hire, furnish and provide competent, qualified, skilled trained and diligent servants, agents and/or employees to perform such services as were required to be make sure the court was safe to compete on; allowing the premises to remain in disrepair; in allowing the defective, broken, hazardous, and trap-like condition to exist and remain for an excessive and unreasonable period of time; failing to promulgate, enforce, instruct, advise, abide by, require or ensure the appropriate rules, regulations, guidelines, procedures, policies or protocols to alleviate, correct, remove, patch, and/or fix the dangerous court; no negligence on behalf of Plaintiff contributed to the occurrence alleged herein whatsoever. bla bla bla
 

Federev

G.O.A.T.
There's no way to even begin to accurately guess at outcomes with this injury. More so than almost any athletic injury, a "meniscus tear" can mean about 500 different things, many of which are so different it's tough to say they're even the same injury. Depends on where it is (medial/lat, white or red), depends on grade, depends on where the excess tissue is (if it's causing knee to lock up, click or get stiff), depends on type and shape of tear, depends on candidacy for surgery and what type of surgery (itself a complex analysis). Half of pro players over 35 probably have use-based complex meniscus tears if you were to really to go in and explore everything directly from every angle. These can get pretty bad before they even notice. MRI is notoriously bad for definitive answers on this stuff.

Also, the expression of very similar tears is very different, a function of how the brain is interpreting the tear. A guy with a small/moderate partial but clean tear might feel 99% for years even while running while another guy with the same tear can barely walk and has his knee "give way" when under load.

If it's his first one and it's not too bad, most can be handled with surgery in a way that gets you back to 90%+ within 3 months (or 6 months depending on surgery). Basically Federer 2016.

Medial is a better injury for athletes (what he has). Tough to say anything beyond that. You also can't read too much into the fact that he finished his match. These injuries often first express themselves 12+ hours after the injury. A lot of times people don't even know what point/play they hurt themselves on.

I believe you.

But how do you know all this?

Are you in sports medicine?
 
Strange WD. He did not look injured to me, just badly below par. I think he knew he was not playing well, would not win the tournament, and likely was now at the point he would lose his next match given his form, and wanted to WD "injured" rather than just lose.
 

GabeT

G.O.A.T.
There's no way to even begin to accurately guess at outcomes with this injury. More so than almost any athletic injury, a "meniscus tear" can mean about 500 different things, many of which are so different it's tough to say they're even the same injury. Depends on where it is (medial/lat, white or red), depends on grade, depends on where the excess tissue is (if it's causing knee to lock up, click or get stiff), depends on type and shape of tear, depends on candidacy for surgery and what type of surgery (itself a complex analysis). Half of pro players over 35 probably have use-based complex meniscus tears if you were to really to go in and explore everything directly from every angle. These can get pretty bad before they even notice. MRI is notoriously bad for definitive answers on this stuff.

Also, the expression of very similar tears is very different, a function of how the brain is interpreting the tear. A guy with a small/moderate partial but clean tear might feel 99% for years even while running while another guy with the same tear can barely walk and has his knee "give way" when under load.

If it's his first one and it's not too bad, most can be handled with surgery in a way that gets you back to 90%+ within 3 months (or 6 months depending on surgery). Basically Federer 2016.

Medial is a better injury for athletes (what he has). Tough to say anything beyond that. You also can't read too much into the fact that he finished his match. These injuries often first express themselves 12+ hours after the injury. A lot of times people don't even know what point/play they hurt themselves on.
This reads like something sensible from someone who knows what they are talking about. It doesn’t seek to sensationalize nor reach hasty conclusions and it lays out the information and arguments in a clear and dispassionate voice

Reported
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Strange WD. He did not look injured to me, just badly below par. I think he knew he was not playing well, would not win the tournament, and likely was now at the point he would lose his next match given his form, and wanted to WD "injured" rather than just lose.

Something very weird is going on with him and not just at RG

Three things jump out at me

1. Wertheim (IIRC) tweeted something about a big expose coming out on a major player right around AO24....never happened

2. The Craig Shapiro tweet that said Novak was already thinking about skipping Wimbledon, that was 3/27

3. The Machac match just wasn't right

It's really starting to feel to me like he's enacting an exit plan after giving himself a few PR off-ramps, but wants to grab a few more records first. He played the Machac match just to extend the #1 record, and just took away Fed's record for total GS wins before withdrawing.

Something just doesn't seem right
 

JustMy2Cents

Hall of Fame
When I was still 18, a mentor of mine made this simple statement: most people don't wish other people well.

That simple statement has stayed in my mind for decades.

Many if not most people are so ridiculously jealous of the accomplishments of great men and women that they will do anything in their power to try to tear them down. They think that somehow they will feel happier because other people suffer.

My take away from this slam will be how Djokovic fought like a lion in back to back 5 set matches. Then I will always think of him wearing the bicycle helmet with a big smile on his face. Do any of us ever fully appreciate the greats until we realize we won't see them anymore? I tend to think not.
wow! what a sad post! the number of likes for this post is sad as well!!
apologies Gary, I have the diametrically opposite take

if most people are jealous of greatness, how do you account for the popularity of sports stars, entertainment figures, all of whom have a huge following?
good pros like docs, teachers have a loyal brood as well

even when media reach was miniscule, there have been very popular figures with millions adoring them.
hopefully this adoration translated to some inspiration for those fans to do well in their own life as well.

people do recognize and appreciate merit wherever they encounter it... jealousy or resentment occurs when that popular person is perceived to be mean/not worthy

of course the so-called rival camp may throw muck to make their choice seem the best but human tendency is to appreciate excellence.

even in my own academic and corporate life, I have not encountered much mindless jealousy.
say when a colleague gets promoted, there is resentment only if it's perceived as unfair/unmerited or the person is obnoxious.


it's such a cynical and wrong take that the majority is incapable of pure, fair emotions!!

on the topic of people's reaction to Djoko's withdrawal, the ones you think are jealous are just giving their read on the situation, based on their take on previous similar occasions
 
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NicoMK

Hall of Fame
If it something small, that he can recover in 2-3 weeks. Hopefully, he skips Wimbledon and prioritizes Olympics.

I would have preferred to see him get knocked out by Casper or Sinner/Alcaraz.
I would've preferred to have seen him with the Coupe des Mousquetaires... ;)
 

Gary Duane

Talk Tennis Guru
wow! what a sad post! the number of likes for this post is sad as well!!
apologies Gary, I have the diametrically opposite take

if most people are jealous of greatness, how do you account for the popularity of sports stars, entertainment figures, all of whom have a huge following?
good pros like docs, teachers have a loyal brood as well

even when media reach was miniscule, there have been very popular figures with millions adoring them.
hopefully this adoration translated to some inspiration for those fans to do well in their own life as well.

people do recognize and appreciate merit wherever they encounter it... jealousy or resentment occurs when that popular person is perceived to be mean/not worthy

of course the so-called rival camp may throw muck to make their choice seem the best but human tendency is to appreciate excellence.

even in my own academic and corporate life, I have not encountered much mindless jealousy.
say when a colleague gets promoted, there is resentment only if it's perceived as unfair/unmerited or the person is obnoxious.


it's such a cynical and wrong take that the majority is incapable of pure, fair emotions!!

on the topic of people's reaction to Djoko's withdrawal, the ones you think are jealous are just giving their read on the situation, based on their take on previous similar occasions
There is always the problem of the silent majority. I think that term first appeared somewhere around the Vietnam War. But it may have been around way before then or it may have been coined later.

Unpleasant people have a way of dominating conversations. So that it may be that the majority of people are fairly kind, but you don't hear from them as much. I can think of several posters right now who are here with their vitriol every night, and they never stop. I'm not going to name them.

It's a lot like guns. I hate guns, but I have at least one friend who loves them. In the hands of responsible adults they will not be used to kill people. But every time another innocent person is killed by a gun we don't think about all those responsible people. We just think about the unbalanced people who will kill anyone for any reason.

That's the way I think about unpleasant people here who night after night just want to tear down amazing athletes for the slightest of reasons. I'll leave it at that.
 

jeroenn

Professional
He got surgery on his elbow by a medical doctor
He did, but he waited very long and was opposed to it for a long time:

From an online article on this, per Agassi:

“I only knew him with a hurt elbow, so it was always plasters and big problems,” his former coach Agassi said. “I think there was a real hope his elbow could heal naturally, holistically. I personally wasn’t a fan of that choice. You can’t force someone when it comes to their own body, you have to understand their hesitations, but health is a function of taking care of your body, making the hard decisions, giving yourself the time and then moving forward methodically. Rest wasn’t going to do it in my estimation.

“When I saw the results of his MRIs in August, I was very clear with him: I advocated surgery right away, because that could end the issue once and for all.”

Djokovic underwent surgery in February, after losing to South Korea’s Chung Hyeon ng at the Australian Open the previous month. "
 

BGod

G.O.A.T.
Dudes the Olympic curse is very real for Novak.
He could have played on but he didn't want to risk compromising Wimbledon or the Olympics. The math adds up given how he looked here so far.
It would have been stupid in a sport such as tennis with so much lateral movement. A Quarterback in the NFL can absolutely play through such an injury but not a tennis player.
A meniscus tear is what felled Federer, hopefully it doesn't require surgery though I know very little about these sorts of injuries.
It doesn't require surgery if you stay off it and let it heal naturally, depending on how bad the tear.
Sinner becomes #1. This is huge. Sad to see it happening like that though. Jannik has to win the title now, no excuses.
Yes these #1s keep getting more pathetic. Medvedev, Carlos and now Sinner. At least Sinner is getting it without Covid bans.
 

Krish872007

Talk Tennis Guru
I’m not sure retiring when you can still win is the right way to go

I don't understand the obsession with retiring on top / with a final win. Sounds like an unfinished story with a proper end, like Sampras. I think he could have played on for a bit had he been willing and able to retool a bit.

Going out with a passing of the torch moment or due to injury is ok - means you gave everything you had to give to the sport and didn't leave anything on the table.
 
Fritz made it back within weeks, competed at Wimbledon after same injury as Novak at the French...I guess it's just the severity...



Medial meniscus tear surgery is a common outpatient procedure that repairs or removes a torn meniscus, a C-shaped piece of cartilage in the knee that acts as a shock absorber and helps stabilize the knee. The surgery can reduce pain, improve mobility and stability, and help you return to your normal activities.

The surgery typically involves a few small incisions and takes about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the tear:
  1. The surgeon uses a tiny camera to examine the meniscus and the tear through one of the incisions.
  2. For smaller tears, the surgeon may use special suture implants to repair the meniscus through the tear without making additional incisions.
  3. For larger tears, the surgeon may need to make an additional incision to pass sutures and tie knots for a more secure repair.
  4. The surgeon then closes the small incisions on the skin with sutures and places a bandage over the wounds.
After surgery, you'll need to do exercises to maintain knee strength and stability, and you'll likely need physical therapy to regain full function of the knee. Full function usually returns 4–5 months after surgery.
Yes it could be a minor injury and he could have a quick recovery.
Novak and his team haven't provided details, so the many threads about career end are just speculation at this point. He's won multiple slams after stating he had bad ab and hamstring tears.
 
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