A terrible injury forced Novak Djokovic to withdraw before his 2024 French Open quarterfinal against Casper Ruud.
While Ruud benefitted from that to seal his French Open semifinal berth again, it has also meant Carlos Alcaraz is now an overwhelming favourite to win the 2024 Wimbledon.
Alcaraz is the defending Wimbledon champion, having defeated Djokovic in a gruelling final last year but the Serb was expected to be at the pole position to clinch his eighth title at the tournament that starts on July 1 this year.
This was before Djokovic scraped through to a win over Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round of the French Open though.
Djokovic later admitted he wasn’t sure how he managed to win it despite the Argentine having had the chance to serve it out in the fourth set. Visibly struggling with his knee, Djokovic looked to have taken a medical time-out in which he popped a few pain-killers and began playing better as they started to take effect.
Scans later revealed a meniscus tear for which he needed a surgery but that also meant he was forced to withdraw from his quarterfinal encounter against Ruud.
There will be a recuperation period for Djokovic following his surgery which he has said “went well”. What needs to be seen now is the recovery time for Djokovic, which is pegged at three weeks at the very least.
According to a report in iNews.co.uk
, Djokovic could take anywhere between three to six weeks to recover from his injury which means there could be doubts over his participation in this year’s Wimbledon.
Realistically, the Paris Olympics which will begin on July 29 this year, looks to be a better bet for a potential return for the 24-time Grand Slam winner as he bids to win the gold there for the first time.
What this means is that the defending champion Alcaraz has now been bumped up as an overwhelming favourite to win at Wimbledon. He starts at 17/10 (with Unibet) at the time of writing to grab the title and is followed by Jannik Sinner (who is 7/4 with BetFred and BetVictor) to add to his title list.
Djokovic still remains in contention with 888Sport and Coral still offering bets for him but he is a distant third at 4/1 to win it.
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Photo Credit: James Boyes from UK