Injuries Force Seven Players to Withdraw at Wimbledon

UPDATE: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic, and Yaroslava Shvedova have also withdrawn due to injury, which means seven players have withdrawn on Wednesday due to injury at a bizarre Wimbledon.

A few notable players will not advance to the third round of Wimbledon. Unfortunately it is not because of their matches. Four players, including #2 Victoria Azarenka, withdrew from Wimbledon on Wednesday morning because of injuries.

Azarenka fell in the second set of her first round match against Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal. She screamed in pain, but was able to win the match 6-1, 6-2. In an interview with ESPN2, Azarenka said the doctor would not clear her to finish the tournament.

Steve Darcis, the man from Belgium who defeated #5 Rafael Nadal in straight sets, withdrew without even taking the court. He injured his shoulder in the first set against Nadal, but was able to finish on top. He expressed his disappointment at a press conference just hours before he was to meet Lukasz Kubot of Poland.

“After the match I start to feel so much pain I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I can’t serve. Even on forehand side can’t hit a ball. When you beat a guy like Rafa in the first round you want to show more, to play more matches. I was playing maybe the best tennis in my life.”

The American men keep dwindling too. John Isner hurt his knee in the first round against Adrian Mannarino of France. It proved too much to take. He took a medical timeout in the second game and his trainer taped his knee. It did not work and retired after his first point in the third game. Isner described the injury at a press conference.

“I was serving like I have 20 million times in the game, nothing different, (knee) just grabbed, knew I was in serious trouble,” he said.

Literally minutes after these three retired, Radek Stepanek retired against Jerzy Janowicz. He has a bad thigh and could not finish his match. He was losing 6-2, 5-3.