When Fabien Reboul injured himself and was forced to withdraw from his doubles match at the China Open, his well-wishers must have hoped for a speedy recovery. However, in light of a new medical update shared by the 31-year-old Frenchman himself, the road to recovery could be longer.
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“I had initial examinations done and I have a tear of the lateral meniscus in my left knee, and a partial tear of the cruciate ligaments. I hope they aren’t completely torn, otherwise it’ll be much longer,” said Reboul as reported by Sportricolore on X. “I’m getting more examinations done and seeing a specialist on Monday in Paris, then getting surgery on Tuesday.”
Further test results will confirm the type of injury for Reboul, who will then have a definite plan for his recovery. A lot will also depend on the type of surgery he will have, whether it will be a minor procedure or not. Should it be a minor one, the Frenchman will still need about two to three months to recover completely, a timeline which could stretch to four to six months if the nature of the tears is found to be more severe than the initial round of tests.
The incident occurred during Reboul’s opening doubles match in Beijing, where he and his partner, Sadio Doumbia, faced the Argentine pair of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni. While returning a powerful smash from his opponent, Reboul had to crouch down in an awkward position to make his shot, which saw him hurt his knee. The Frenchman was down immediately, and he and Doumbia had to retire from the match, despite being only three points away from victory.
Tennis has a long history of players suffering from knee injuries of varying degrees, which is due to the nature of the sport, which includes intense running while changing directions. One of the most notable cases of a meniscus tear in recent times was Novak Djokovic, who sustained the injury during the 2024 French Open, forcing him to withdraw before his semifinal match. However, after having a partial meniscectomy, he was able to come back within four weeks, reaching the Wimbledon final and winning the Olympic gold.
On the other side of the spectrum, one could point out the unfortunate streak of injuries that Juan Martin Del Potro suffered. While it was the wrist that troubled the former US Open champion in the early part of his career, he had multiple knee surgeries, which kept him out of action for most of the 2019 season and did not allow him to take the court in 2020 and 2021, with the Argentine last playing a match in 2022 before calling it a day in 2024.
For Fabien Reboul, the exact nature of his injury will be key in his recovery time, but even in the best-case scenario, the chances of him and Doumbia qualifying for the ATP Finals look very slim at the moment.
Fabien Reboul and Sadio Doumbia Are All but Out of the Race for the ATP Finals
Ranked 10th on the ATP Race Rankings in doubles, the team of Reboul and Doumbia had a decent chance of making it to the ATP Finals this year. However, with Reboul’s injury at this time of the calendar, it has all but ensured that the French team’s chances of reaching Turin are over.
Even if Reboul’s injuries are not as severe and the Frenchman makes a recovery on par with Djokovic in 2024, it will still mean he will not be in action till the end of October. That would mean the French team will miss the Shanghai Masters and the first week of the European indoor hard-court season. They will have two ATP 500 events in Vienna and Basel to collect some points, but that might not be enough.
The only outside chance the pair might have is that of Reboul getting fit before the Paris Masters, which is slated to begin on November 2. Playing in front of their home crowd, should the French pair make a deep run at the Masters 1000 event, they still might have a slim shot of making it to Turin.
Reboul’s injury would be an unfortunate way for him and Doumbia to end the 2026 season. They reached three finals this year, winning titles in Bucharest and Bastad while having a runner-up finish in Hamburg. They also had breakthrough runs in the Majors, reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.