Big blow for Daniil Medvedev as he opts to undergo surgery

Daniil Medvedev celebrates

World number two Daniil Medvedev is a doubt for the French Open after revealing he will have surgery on a hernia.

The 26-year-old Russian, who last week missed the chance to return to top of the world rankings following a quarter-final defeat by Hubert Hurkacz at the Miami Open, could be sidelined for two months. The French Open starts on May 22.

“The last months I have been playing with a small hernia,” said Medvedev on social media.

“Together with my team I have decided to have a small procedure done to fix the problem.

“I will likely be out for the next one to two months and will work hard to be back on court soon. Thanks for all the support.”

Medvedev, who won last September’s US Open and reached the final of this year’s Australian Open, was world number one for a three-week spell in February before Novak Djokovic regained top spot.

The news of Medvedev’s injury lay-off comes after Rafael Nadal also confirmed he will miss the next few weeks after picking up an injury in his run to the Indian Wells final last month.

It means the door is open for world No 1 Novak Djokovic to get back to winning ways, with two of his biggest rivals missing from the first few weeks of the clay court season.

Djokovic is due to play only his second tournament of 2022 when he takes to the court for the Monte Carlo Masters, with that event set to get underway on April 10th.

Latest