Novak Djokovic withdrew from Roland Garros before his scheduled quarterfinal match and could be set for a rankings slide.
Djokovic's knee injury proved problematic in the last two rounds of the tournament against Lorenzo Musetti and then Francisco Cerundolo. He needed to play ten sets and nine hours of tennis to progress into the last eight.
The 37-year-old started the tournament as World No. 1, but after pulling out from the clay-court Grand Slam before the quarterfinal, he has guaranteed Jannik Sinner to surpass him in the points tally and become the new No.1 on Monday, June 10th.
Djokovic's dominance at the top of the rankings will temporarily stop at 428 weeks. He already holds the record for the most weeks at no. 1 and recently stated that he is not obsessed with the rankings for the 2024 season and that he expected Sinner to take control at some point.
But the Serbian could drop as low as third place in the ATP rankings by the end of the French Open. With 8360 points in the live rankings, he cannot add to this number.
World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz could eclipse him if he wins the tournament, as that would push his points total to 8580. Djokovic has plenty of points to defend in the second half of the season, including a runner-up at Wimbledon in the first two weeks of July.
Right now, it is unclear how long Djokovic will be out of action, but he might be forced to skip the grass-court major if he decides to undergo surgery for the torn meniscus in his knee.
The last time he was ranked outside the world's top three was in January 2023, just before he won his 22nd Grand Slam at the Australian Open. If his trophyless run this season continues, Djokovic could fall even further down the standings.