Five Forced Out of Wimbledon With Injuries

June 26, 2013 | By Erin Brown
John_Isner_02_15
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Wednesday was a day riddled with injuries at Wimbledon, as five important players were forced out of the tournament with varying ailments. World number two Victoria Azarenka, Steve Darcis (who upset Rafael Nadal in the opening round), American John Isner, the 10th-seeded Marin Cilic and the six-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all had to pull out of the year’s third Grand Slam with an array of injuries.

In her first round match against Maria Joao Koehler, Azarenka tried to reach for a ball and slipped and injured her knee. She pulled out of the tournament right before her second round match against Flavia Pennetta was scheduled to start.

Darcis, the Belgium native currently ranked 135th in the world, had to withdraw from the tournament because of a right shoulder injury. Darcis rose to fame Monday when he ousted world number five Rafael Nadal in opening round action. His next opponent was to be Lukasz Kubot of Poland.

Isner was forced to retire just two games into his second round match against Adrian Mannarino due to an injury to his left knee.

World number 12 Cilic had to pull out of the tournament also because of a knee injury. Cilic’s next opponent would have been Kenny de Schepper of France.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was also forced to retire on Wednesday while trailing Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis in his second round match. Tsonga was down 6-3 3-6 3-6 to Gulbis when he called a trainer on to Center Court after two sets. He emerged from the treatment with strapping on his left knee to support a tendon injury that has been a problem in the past and flared up again six days ago.

Update: Seven total players were forced out of action due to injury on Wednesday. Added to the list of the five above are 2006 quarterfinalist Radek Stepanek who retired from his match with Jerzy Janowicz, trailing 2-6, 3-5 with a left hamstring injury, while on the women’s side of the draw, it was Yaroslava Shvedova’s right arm that prevented her from even beginning her match with Petra Kvitova.


Erin Brown
Intern

Erin Brown is an intern at Long Island and New York Tennis Magazine. She graduated from George Washington University with a degree in English, where she was also a member of the Club Tennis team. She may be reached by e-mail at erinb@litennismag.com.

USTA NTC
Pointset

March/April 2024 Digital Edition