Report: Novak Djokovic to Have Surgery on Knee Injury; Status for Wimbledon 2024 TBD

The knee injury that forced Novak Djokovic to withdraw from the French Open prior to the quarterfinals will require surgery.

Per ESPN's Tom Hamilton, Djokovic will have surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Wednesday. His status for Wimbledon, which begins July 1, is uncertain.

Hamilton noted the "likelihood" is that Djokovic will skip Wimbledon to prepare for playing in the Olympics. The tennis tournament at the Paris Games begins on July 27.

Djokovic breezed through his first two matches at the French Open, beating Pierre Hugues-Herbert and Roberto Carballés Baena in straight sets.

Things looked significantly more difficult for Djokovic over his past two matches. He needed five sets and more than four hours to get past Lorenzo Musetti, followed by another five-set thriller against Francisco Cerúndolo.

Speaking to reporters after his win over Cerúndolo on Monday night, Djokovic admitted he was unsure if his knee would allow him to keep playing in the tournament.

"I don't know until [Tuesday] if I can step out and play," he said. "I hope so. ... Let's see what happens."

Tuesday came with bad news, as Djokovic had to withdraw from the tournament after an MRI revealed a torn meniscus in his right knee. This marks the first time an injury has forced him out of a grand slam tournament since retiring in the third set of his fourth-round match against Stan Wawrinka at the 2019 U.S. Open.

Djokovic was set to face Casper Ruud in the quarterfinal on Wednesday prior to withdrawing from the tournament.

This will be the first French Open to not feature at least one of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer in the finals since 2004.

The last time Djokovic didn't win at least one of the four major tournaments in a calendar year was 2017. If he misses Wimbledon as a result of the injury, his last chance to keep that streak alive this year will be the U.S. Open.