Injury retirements plague first round at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND In an odd twist of fate, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer played abbreviated back- to- back firstround encounters on Wimbledon’s Centre Court on Tuesday when their opponents surrendered way before their matches neared completion.
Second- seeded Djokovic, fresh off of winning the Eastbourne title Saturday, was leading 6- 3, 2- 0 when Martin Klizan of Slovakia retired with a left leg injury at the 40- minute mark of the match.
Third- seeded Federer, hoping to win an eighth Wimbledon title, was leading Alexandr Dolgopolov 6- 3, 3- 0 in the next match when the Ukrainian retired after 43 minutes, citing a right ankle injury.
“It’s really odd that Roger’s result and my result more or less was the same,” Djokovic said. “We had a little joke about it in the locker room, saying we should maybe play a practice set on the Centre Court, have the crowd stay.
“If you walk out on the Centre Court, there is a responsibility. I’m sure they tried their best, but it is what it is.”
Centre Court ticketholders were hardly delighted by the misfortune that befell them. Yes, they had the hottest tennis ticket in town, and they did see world No. 1 Angelique Kerber post a 6- 4, 6- 4 win against Irina Falconi of the USA in the first match. But on the day, their trip to Wimbledon delivered little entertainment value, especially considering the tickets don’t come cheap.
To make up for the shortened schedule, the tournament moved another match to Centre Court, with fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark defeating Timea Babos of Hungary 6- 4, 4- 6, 6- 1.
“When I went out ( of the court), I felt like therewas a bit of a letdown from the crowd,” Federer said. “They couldn’t believe that it happened again, exactly the same situation. Called the trainer after the set, pulled out at 3- love, the same thing. I feel for the crowd. They’re there to watch good tennis, proper tennis.”
And the two Centre Court retirements weren’t the only ones to shake up the men’s first round.
Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia became the sixth man to forfeit a match with only two days of play finished. A right hamstring injury suffered in practice three days ago forced Tipsarevic to call it quits against Jared Donaldson on Tuesday, with the American leading 5- 0 after 12 minutes on court.
In Monday’s opening matches, the men’s main draw had three retirements: 20th- seeded Nick Kyrgios of Australia, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and Viktor Troicki of Serbia walked away before completing matches.
Beyond the fact that most players consider Wimbledon the holy grail of tennis, which makes it an attractive event to play, the first- round prize money at a Grand Slam tournament is a definite allure. At Wimbledon, themen and women receive a whopping first- round paycheck that’s the equivalent of about $ 45,000.
“A player should not go on court if he knows he could not finish,” Federer said. “The question is: Did they truly believe they were going to finish. If they did, I think it’s OK that they walk on court. Otherwise, I feel they should give up the spot.
“It’s a lot of money,” added Federer, saying he understands the incentive to attempt to play. “For some, it’s more; for some, it’s less. For some, they just want to be out there because they feel like miracles happen: Maybe the other guy retires or maybe the other guy is carrying an injury.”