Jay Devilliers will miss the rest of the 2024 season with a left knee injury.

The "Flying Frenchman" provided further details in a phone interview with pickleball.com.

"After competing several weeks in a row, when I was in Atlanta, I suffered knee pain during my match in mixed doubles that carried to men’s doubles the following afternoon. I decided to see what was going on, and after several opinions I was told that my knee was not great and I’ll have minor surgery," he explained. "My understanding of it is that I have a piece of cartilage that is moving around my knee and needs to be removed because it’s locking my muscle and mobility." 

The estimated recovery time is six to eight weeks.

It's a setback for Devilliers, of course, but he's confident that he'll return to the pickleball court in the near future.

The exact cause of the injury, however, remains a bit of a mystery.

"As a professional athlete, I’m playing a lot and traveling a lot. Everything is overused and fatigued. The doctors are not quite sure of the reason why it broke, but it’s a common thing for professional athletes. A lot of top athletes have had this, so that’s what made me feel a little bit better. Novak Djokovic had a similar surgery and he came back after four weeks after the French Open to play Wimbledon," he said. "I’m trusting the doctor and seeing how quickly I can recover. I will do what they tell me to do. I will put in the work behind the scenes to come back strong as possible."

Now that Devilliers’ regular training routine is officially on hold, he plans on focusing on other business ventures and his family. 

"I’m always traveling on the tour, so I’m looking forward to spending more time with the kids," he said. 

Make no mistake about it, though, he won't be in vacation mode.  

"I will definitely work on staying in shape. It can be easy to gain weight and look at the TV, and if I let myself go, it could get worse," he mentioned. "I’m going to be very focused on the recovery process and working hard to come back stronger than ever."