This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/sports/tennis/injuries-force-flurry-of-withdrawals-at-wimbledon.html

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 5 Version 6
Injuries Force Flurry of Withdrawals A Baffling Day, Even Before Federer’s Loss
(about 1 hour later)
Wimbledon, England — Fifteen minutes into Wednesday’s action at Wimbledon, John Isner retired from his second-round match against Adrian Mannarino of France with a knee injury. He could not have known at the time that he had started a trend. WIMBLEDON, England — The carnage began early Wednesday at Wimbledon. Fifteen minutes into the first match on Court 3, the top-seeded American man, No. 18 John Isner, retired from his match against Adrian Mannarino with a left knee injury.
About an hour later, Steve Darcis, who played the match of his life to defeat Rafael Nadal on Monday, withdrew because of a right shoulder injury. By lunch, women’s No. 2 Victoria Azarenka and Steve Darcis, who upset Rafael Nadal in the first round Monday, had withdrawn because of injuries.
Fifteen minutes after that, Victoria Azarenka, the No. 2 seed in the women’s draw, withdrew from her second-round match against Flavia Pennetta with a knee injury. At tea, a knee injury had forced No. 6 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to quit his match after three sets, and third-seeded Maria Sharapova and ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki had lost to qualifiers after slipping on court and requiring medical treatment.
By the end of the day, a knee injury had forced No. 6 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to quit his match after three sets; Radek Stepanek had retired in the second set with a hamstring injury; and No. 10 seed Marin Cilic had withdrawn with a knee injury. Yaroslava Shvedova withdrew from her match with an arm injury. The carnage even hit the doubles tournament, as Bernard Tomic and Victor Troicki pulled out of their match in the second set because of Tomic’s hamstring injury. At dinner, after seven singles players had retired or withdrawn with injuries, the All England Club issued an extraordinary statement defending the state of its grass.
Even those who were able to start and finish their matches were not safe. Third-seeded Maria Sharapova and ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki kept playing after slipping and needing medical treatment, and both lost. And as the sun was setting to bring one of the strangest days in Wimbledon history to an end, the most unusual sight of all occurred at Centre Court: Roger Federer walking off as a second-round loser.
“Very black day,” Cilic said. The 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine used old-school serve-and-volley tactics to send the latest shock through Wimbledon, ending Federer’s remarkable streak of reaching 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals with a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory.
According to the International Tennis Federation, the seven retirements and walkovers in singles were believed to be the most singles retirements and walkovers on the same day at a Grand Slam event in the open era. Though nearing his 32nd birthday and having won only one tournament this year, Federer had made a home at Wimbledon, winning the title seven times. He had not lost before the quarterfinals at Wimbledon since falling in the first round to Mario Ancic in 2002. He had not lost before the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam event since he lost in the third round of the 2004 French Open to Gustavo Kuerten.
All of the slipping and injuries naturally led to questions of why. The suggested culprits included the length of the season, the short time to adjust from clay to grass, the condition of the courts and even the chilly weather. “Can’t have ’em all,” a subdued Federer said after the match.
Wimbledon’s courts tend to be more slippery at the beginning of the tournament before the grass around the baseline is worn down into a patch of dirt. But there have been several noticeable slips, the most graphic being when Azarenka twisted her right knee during her first-round match Monday. She lay on the court in tears for several minutes, but she continued to play on a heavily taped right knee and beat Maria Joao Koehler, 6-1, 6-2. When Wednesday began, Federer’s biggest problem was his shoes. The All England Club had asked him to change them, saying the orange-soled ones he wore during the first round violated the club’s dress code calling for predominantly white attire.
Azarenka said a magnetic resonance imaging test Tuesday showed no tendon or ligament tears, so she tried to be optimistic about continuing to play. She described the injury as a bone bruise, and said the doctors were surprised she was able to get up after such a bad fall. But no one was talking about shoes after Stakhovsky’s throwback performance, which he described afterward  as “magic.” Stakhovsky went to the net 96 times, winning 64 percent of his points there, and had 17 aces and 72 winners.
“I tried to practice today a little bit to see if it was going to warm up or with treatment get better,” Azarenka said. “It just didn’t, just got worse.” “He was uncomfortable to play against,” said Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam champion. “I think he served and volleyed really well. It was difficult to get into that much rhythm clearly against a player like that.”
Azarenka said she did not want to take her frustration out on the court conditions, but noted that they were not very good. After no breaks of serve in the first two sets, Stakhovsky turned the match by winning the second-set tiebreaker on a crisp serve-and-volley combination. He scored the first break of the match at 5-5 in the third set with a lunging forehand stab volley, then served out the set. He may have had the upper hand on Federer, but Stakhovsky knew there were other forces at work.
“You’re playing the guy and then you’re playing his legend, which is following him because he won it seven times,” Stakhovsky said. “He’s holding all possible career records here, I think, winning matches and everything. You’re playing two of them.
“When you’re beating one, you still have the other one who is pressing you. You’re saying: ‘Am I about to beat him? Is it possible?’ ”
Stakhovsky said he did not believe he could win until he was up a break in the fourth set and held serve at 2-1 after being behind by 15-40. Federer was only 1 of 8 on break-point opportunities in the match.
“I struggled maybe on the big points, you know, this time around again, like I have for some time this season,” Federer said.
Since winning Wimbledon last year, Federer lost in the quarterfinals at the United States Open, the semifinals at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at the French Open. But he refused to write an epitaph on his career.
“I still have plans to play for many more years to come,” he said. “It’s normal that after all of a sudden losing early after being the quarters 36 times, people feel it’s different.”
Wednesday certainly felt different. Marin Cilic, the 10th-seeded man, who withdrew with a knee injury, called it a “very black day” — and that was at about 2:30 in the afternoon. The carnage was not even half over. In all, seven former No. 1 players exited the tournament.
Fans who stayed at Centre Court all day witnessed a nightmarish day for seeded players. Azarenka was supposed to start the day there before she withdrew. She was replaced on the schedule by the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, last year’s junior champion here.
Tsonga was next on Centre Court, facing Ernests Gulbis. Tsonga said he began experiencing a tendon problem in his left knee five or six days ago. He sought medical treatment on the court after he and Gulbis split the first two sets, 3-6, 6-3. Tsonga retired after losing the third set, 6-3.
According to the International Tennis Federation, the seven retirements and walkovers in singles were believed to be the most on the same day at a Grand Slam event in the Open era.
All of the slipping and injuries led to questions of why. The suggested culprits included the length of the season, the short time to adjust to grass from clay, and the condition of the courts.
There have been several significant falls, the most graphic being when Azarenka twisted her right knee during her first-round win Monday that left her lying on the court in tears for several minutes. Azarenka said a magnetic resonance imaging test Tuesday showed no tendon or ligament tears, but after practice and treatment Wednesday, her knee felt worse.
“I don’t know if it’s the court, or it’s the weather,” she said. “Would be great if the club or somebody who takes care of the court just would examine or try to find an issue so that wouldn’t happen.”“I don’t know if it’s the court, or it’s the weather,” she said. “Would be great if the club or somebody who takes care of the court just would examine or try to find an issue so that wouldn’t happen.”
Richard Lewis, chief executive of the All England Club, defended the court conditions. Sharapova fell three times during her 6-3, 6-3 loss to the qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal, and she could be seen on the television broadcast calling the courts dangerous. But in her news conference later, she did not want to use that or a strained left hip as an excuse.
“There has been a high number of withdrawals at The Championships today and we sympathise with all the players affected,” Lewis said in a statement. “The withdrawals have occurred for a variety of reasons, but there has been some suggestion that the court surface is to blame. We have no reason to think this is the case. Indeed, many players have complimented us on the very good condition of the courts.
“The court preparation has been to exactly the same meticulous standard as in previous years and it is well known that grass surfaces tend to be more lush at the start of an event. The factual evidence, which is independently checked, is that the courts are almost identical to last year, as dry and firm as they should be, and we expect them to continue to play to their usual high quality.”
Sharapova fell three times during her 6-3, 6-3 loss to the qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal, and she could be seen on the television broadcast calling the courts dangerous. But in her news conference later, she did not want to use that – or a strained left hip -- as an excuse.
“Those are the conditions that are there for my opponent as well,” Sharapova said. “Just took a lot more falls than she did today.”“Those are the conditions that are there for my opponent as well,” Sharapova said. “Just took a lot more falls than she did today.”
Wozniacki slipped during the first set of the match against the qualifier Petra Cetkovska and required treatment on her left foot. She said her movement was limited after that and she lost, 6-2, 6-2. She said she thought the grass this year was slower, not more slippery. Wozniacki injured her foot after slipping during her 6-2, 6-2 loss to Petra Cetkovska on No. 2 Court, which preceded Sharapova’s loss.
“You always know that grass is more slippery than other surfaces,” Wozniacki said. “You’re prepared for that. But, you know, accidents happen sometimes on court.” At about 8 p.m., with so many players being asked about court conditions in news conferences and so many news media requests to speak to the new groundskeeper Neil Stubley, the All England Club issued a statement about the grass.
Isner said his injury would have happened no matter what surface he was on. He hurt his knee while serving in the third point of the match. “The court preparation has been to exactly the same meticulous standard as in previous years, and it is well known that grass surfaces tend to be more lush at the start of an event,” said Richard Lewis, chief executive of the club. “The factual evidence, which is independently checked, is that the courts are almost identical to last year, as dry and firm as they should be, and we expect them to continue to play to their usual high quality.”
“I didn’t do anything different,” Isner said. “I just go to serve and land on my left leg, like I have done 20 million times playing this game, and this is the first time I just felt this, like, sharp pain.” British fans had one piece of good news Wednesday: the path to the final became wide open for Andy Murray, who flew under the radar with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 win over Yen-Hsun Lu. His half of the draw, once thought to be overloaded with talent, no longer has Nadal, Federer or Tsonga.
Isner received medical attention during the changeover and tried to continue playing, but he could barely move, returning only one serve and retiring after the second game. He said he could not bend his knee or put much weight on it. There will not be a much-anticipated final between Sharapova and Serena Williams either, after their verbal pretournament sparring. With Azarenka, Sharapova and No. 5 Sara Errani out, the highest-seeded women in the bottom half of the draw is No. 8 Petra Kvitova, who moved on to the third round because Yaroslava Shvedova withdrew with an arm injury.
Isner also withdrew from the Australian Open before it started with a bone bruise in his right knee. But this was a particularly disappointing turn of events for Isner, who was the highest seeded player remaining in his part of the draw after Nadal and Stanislas Wawrinka lost in the first round. Asked if he had ever seen a day like this at a Grand Slam event, the ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert said, “Not even close.”
“It’s tough to think about,” he said. " I had a good chance to go pretty far here.”

Ben Rothenberg and Dave Seminara contributed reporting.

Cilic and Tsonga said they were dealing with pre-existing injuries that had flared up in recent weeks. Tsonga sought medical treatment on the court after he and Ernests Gulbis split the first two sets, 3-6, 6-3. He retired after losing the third set, 6-3.
“I know when it’s getting worse and worse like this that it’s not really good for me to play because I know I will do more damage,” Tsonga said.
He suggested the chilly weather, which is not unusual here, was bad for his joints. While he did not think a shorter season was needed, more time to rest was.
“I have to play almost every week if I want to keep my ranking and have some opportunity, you know, in big tournaments,” he said. “I need to keep my ranking really high.”
Darcis, with many new fans earned in his win over Nadal, did not get the chance at a follow-up against Lukasz Kubot. He said he thought he hurt his right shoulder was in the middle of the first set against Nadal, when he dove in the seventh game. He said he felt fine the rest of the match, but hours later, he was in severe pain and could not sleep.
With inflammation and fluid in his right shoulder, he received physical therapy and an injection Tuesday. But on Wednesday, he could not serve or hit forehands, so he decided to withdraw.
“When you beat a guy like Rafa first round, you want to show more, you want to play more matches,” Darcis said. “I was playing maybe the best tennis in my life here.”