Second seed Novak Djokovic was handed a place in the French Open semi-finals on Monday when scheduled last eight opponent Fabio Fognini was forced out with a torn left thigh muscle.
The 24-year-old Italian, who had been due to play his first career Grand Slam quarter-final, suffered the injury in his marathon five-set fourth-round win over Albert Montanes on Sunday.
“It’s the most difficult decision I’ve made. It was my first Grand Slam quarter-final and I am playing the best tennis of my career. However, this was the best decision,” said Fognini, the first Italian man to reach the last eight in Paris since Renzo Furlan in 1995.
“I was crying last night. I had the treatment and I decided to retire. I had another scan this morning and we knew that to play would aggravate the injury to the left thigh. It was too risky. But this is sport, this is tennis.”
Djokovic will have to wait to discover his semi-final opponent.
