Shocking withdrawal of Djokovic leaves Alcaraz 'surprised' as French Open path opens

Carlos Alcaraz was left 'surprised' at the shock withdrawal of Novak Djokovic from the 2024 French Open on Tuesday afternoon prior to the Spaniard taking on Stefanos Tsitsipas.

An opponent that Alcaraz wouldn't have faced until the final of the 2024 French Open if he got that far. He was asked about Djokovic after he successfully took down Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6, 6-4 in the end and will now face Jannik Sinner on Friday night more than likely. The other semi-final will be set today. C`asper Ruud is already through, he faces the winner of Alexander Zverev and Alex de MInaur.

Djokovic was set to play on Wednesday, but he had to withdraw unfortunately with a meniscus tear. It is unknown how long he will be out for. But it won't be an imminent return to the court. Alcaraz was left surprised for a reason with Djokovic in his view perceived to be moving well before he defeated Francisco Cerundolo.

After initially showing some pain and discomfort in his tie against Cerundolo, he surged in the final set. But priorly, he did have a medical timeout and complained about the conditions with his knee being a problem. Post match he made the honest admission that he wasn't sure what his next step was and he was potentially set to withdraw from the Quarter-Finals. After an MRI, he did so and his campaign now ends.

"Well, I was surprised that he withdraw from the tournament after watch the match yesterday. He finished the match playing great tennis and he didn't show pain at the end of the match," he said. "So, it was a surprise for me that he withdraw from the tournament. But he talked with his team, with the doctor and you know, tennis is like that, so sometimes you have to deal with it," he added.

"But I think not having Djokovic in the tournament, it's, I'm going to say frustrating for the fans not having one of the best players in the world in the tournament."