Monfils had already declared after his win against Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday that he was in trouble and did not know whether he could play against Djokovic. Then on Thursday afternoon Monfils announced his withdrawal.

"I'm disappointed not to be able to play against Novak. I love to play against the best, you know where you stand. He beat me 17 times in a row, but I'm looking forward to playing against him again and trying to win. It would have been great in Paris today. "

Monfils indicated back problems, he needed a break, in ten days he would be fit again, he explained.

Djokovic will meet the winner of the game between Cameron Norrie and Taylor Fritz on Friday.

Here the single tableau in Paris-Bercy

bercymap