Novak Djokovic withdrew from the French Open due to a knee injury and lost his world number one ranking, but Jannik Sinner made history by reaching the semi-finals instead.

Novak Djokovic withdrew from the French Open due to a torn meniscus in his right knee and lost his world number one ranking.

The 37-year-old sustained the injury in his fourth-round match against Francisco Cernudolo but fought through the pain to win in five sets. However, an MRI scan revealed bad news and he was forced to withdraw from his quarter-final match against Casper Ruud on Wednesday.

As a result, the 24-time Grand Slam champion will lose the top spot, to be taken by Jannik Sinner.

Sinner reached the semifinals at the French Open for the first time and unknowingly became number one in the world rankings.

The 22-year-old, the first Italian to reach world number one ranking, beat Bulgarian veteran Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

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“It means a lot to me,” he said. “It’s not the outcome we all expected, actually. It was tough because he played two really long, tough five-set matches, and the first one finished really late.”

“You know, it’s a tough situation for the tournament. It’s always tough when Novak withdraws.”

“As for myself, I am very happy with this achievement. It is the result of a lot of hard work that we do every day. It’s a daily routine. Of course, I’m happy to have achieved this figure.”

“I have a very important match for me in two days, the semi-final, so I’m focused on that right now. But of course, I’m very happy with this number right now.”

Sinner will face fellow young star Carlos Alcaraz, who was ranked No. 1 in the world until last September.

The 21-year-old Alcaraz claimed he holds the “key” to defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas ahead of their quarter-final overnight match.

And the Wimbledon champion lived up to his promise, beating the Greek ninth seed 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Tsitsipas struggled a bit in the second set, complaining to the umpire of interference after Alcaraz took a long groan during the tiebreak.

But a double fault midway through the third set saw Alcaraz take control and the Spaniard go on to win his head-to-head match against Tsitsipas six matches to one.

“I think it was a very good match, I played great,” Alcaraz said. “I controlled my emotions well and stayed really calm when I needed to. I’m really happy to be here in the semifinals at Roland Garros.”

“Yannic is going to be a really tough challenge. He’s the best player in the world right now and he’s the best player playing tennis right now.”

“We had a great match and he’s really pushing me to be a better player and improve my game to be able to beat him. I’m ready for the challenge.”

There is no doubt that Alcaraz fully understands Tsitsipas’ mind.

“You have to get over that mental barrier,” the 25-year-old said. “I feel like something magical happened on the court today.”

“I just couldn’t throw the ball where I wanted to. It’s just unbelievable.”