Injuries decimate Wimbledon field
Retirements leave fans shortchanged
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND In an odd twist of fate, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer played abbreviated back-to-back first-round 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 6-3, 3-0 against Alexandr Dolgopolov 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,” he added. “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 there was 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.”
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 their matches.
Beyond the fact that most players consider Wimbledon the holy grail of tennis, which makes it an attractive event to play, the firstround prize money at a Grand Slam tournament is a definite allure. At Wimbledon, the men and women receive a whopping firstround 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.”
The ATP Tour recently instituted a rule in which twice during the year players can receive firstround prize money even if they withdraw from the tournament. That scenario opens the door for a lucky loser — someone who didn’t advance out of the qualifying tournament but would be the next player into the main draw according to his result — to gain entry into the main draw of a tournament.
It works out to be something of a smart gamble for the lucky loser. While he doesn’t receive firstround prize money — that goes to the original player who withdrew — if the lucky loser wins his firstround match, he would earn at least second-round prize money dependent on how far he goes in the tournament.
Djokovic and Federer, who endorsed the new ATP rule, suggested a similar rule should be adopted by the Grand Slam events.
Tipsarevic is ranked 63rd in the world but has weighed in as high as eighth.
For him, the choice to go on court was made with a doctor’s approval.
“Knock on wood, I’ve earned enough money that my life doesn’t depend on this check,” Tipsarevic said. “It would’ve been unfair if the doctor told me I had a tear and I just went on the court to get the first-round prize money, which is really, really high for some of us.
“If a guy who is all of his life playing Challengers (lower-level tournaments) and suddenly has a chance to play Wimbledon main draw where a first-round loss is (worth) 35,000 pounds, I don’t think anybody has the right to judge him, to say you didn’t do the right thing, you’re unfair for going there,” he added. “That same guy next week has to pay a coach, and all the other expenses, to go to a Challenger, where he only gets 150 or 200 Euros.”