Novak Djokovic could yet be ready for a tilt at an eighth Wimbledon title this summer despite having to withdraw from the French Open with a torn medial meniscus. Following his epic five set win over Francisco Cerundolo, the Serbian underwent a scan that he later revealed would require surgery ahead of the grass court tournament at SW19.

Wimbledon gets underway on July 1, meaning Djokovic has less than four weeks to be fully fit for the tournament, with the 2024 Paris Olympics starting later in the month.

But speaking exclusively to Express Sport, the CEO of Kitman Labs Stephen Smith has claimed that the 24-time Grand Slam champion still has a good chance of recovering in time.

Smith, whose company work with the likes of football clubs Chelsea, Liverpool, Fulham and Bayer Leverkusen over player injury and welfare, revealed the severity of a meniscus injury can vary greatly. And he cited the fact that the 37-year-old was able to complete his five set match on Monday as a sign the issue was not long-term.

“If it’s a very small tear or a small flake of meniscus that has come off and the meniscus is floating around inside the knee, and you remove that loose body, you can reduce the pain and return to exercise quite quickly,” he said.

“However, if there's a big bucket handle tear, and movement causes a lot of pain, that can be a completely different scenario and a more complex surgical procedure would be needed to resolve it which could require three to four months of rehabilitation.

“From what we've seen, Djokovic had slight pain during the event last week, but it didn't stop him from finishing the match on Monday. That would suggest to me that it's probably on the lower end of the severity scale.

“So in that sense, I think having a good three-to-four-week rehab - if that’s what the MRI scan ultimately reveals, and it’s quite minor - is a realistic timeframe to expect him to return to play, and absolutely I would expect to see him playing on July 1 at Wimbledon.”

Smith acknowledged that Djokovic himself would be ‘desperate’ to play in the tournament, and said the icon would also benefit from being treated and advised by expert medical and rehab staff.

He pointed to the example of a rugby union star as to why tennis fans should not count out the prospect of him prevailing again at SW19 next month.

‌“I remember back in 2011 when Leinster played Ulster in the European Cup Final and Brian O'Driscoll tore his medial meniscus the weekend before the game and he had medial meniscus surgery on the Monday morning,” he recalled.

“The following Saturday, he played in the final and ultimately helped Leinster win the trophy. My point is that professional athletes strive to compete at this level and will stop at virtually nothing to do so.”

Should Djokovic indeed make it into the main draw, he can expect to be the subject of speculation as to whether the injury will reoccur over the championship fortnight. Smith conceded it was impossible to know the risks without access to his medical records, but implied that the decision of the former world No.1 and his team may well rest on his injury history.

“In terms of a recurrence of the injury, if it’s a small issue where a tiny bit of meniscus is floating and a lot of the articular surface is remaining and still intact on the knee, then he will be fine,” he said.

“If he’s had five or six of these injuries previously and almost down to bone on bone, then it’s something that could absolutely reoccur on route to the final.”

Djokovic has not missed a Grand Slam through injury since the 2017 US Open, when he was ruled out after elbow surgery. He missed the same event and the Australian Open in 2022 due to his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19.