LONDON: The All England Club’s medical rooms were overflowing as the third day of Wimbledon resembled a casualty ward with Rafa Nadal’s conqueror Steve Darcis one of five players to withdraw injured before Wednesday afternoon.
Darcis, who sent shockwaves around the tennis world on Monday with a first-round demolition of Nadal, was in good company with women’s second seed Victoria Azarenka unable to take to the Centre Court to face Italy’s Flavia Pennetta.
American marathon man John Isner, whose longest-ever tennis match is part of Wimbledon folklore, lasted only two games before his knee buckled against Adrian Mannarino.
Czech veteran Radek Stepanek then quit with a hamstring injury while trailing powerful Pole Jerzy Janowicz 6-2, 5-3, meaning the first three men’s second round results of the day were decided by walkovers or retirements.
Men’s 10th seed Marin Cilic added to the injury list when he withdrew before his second round match against Frenchman Kenny De Schepper.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga joined a long list of casualties at Wimbledon on Wednesday when he retired injured while trailing Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis in his second round match.
Day Three of the championships had already been blighted by a spate of injury withdrawals when a troublesome knee forced the sixth seed to throw in the towel just before the fourth set in a match he was losing 6-3 3-6 3-6.
The 29-year-old Darcis, who had been due to face Pole Lukasz Kubot, said he had injured his right shoulder in the heat of battle against Nadal on Monday.
Australian Open champion Azarenka was scheduled to open play on Centre Court but withdrew as fans were taking their seats having failed to recover from the knee injury she sustained when slipping over against Maria Joao Koehler on Monday.
“It’s very tough. I couldn’t be any more disappointed,” Azarenka who won Olympic gold in mixed doubles at Wimbledon last year, told reporters. “Wimbledon is a tournament I was looking so forward to.”
Azarenka, who blamed a slippery No. 1 Court on her fall, said an MRI scan had not revealed a torn ligament and that she had tried to practise before Wednesday’s match with Pennetta.
Organisers quickly had to fill the gap left by Azarenka’s withdrawal, switching former world number one Ana Ivanovic to Centre Court for her match against reigning Wimbledon junior champion Eugenie Bouchard of Canada but the 12th-seeded Serb’s upgrade did little for her performance as she lost 6-3 6-3.
The biggest irony of the day was 18th seed Isner’s painful exit. The American, who beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in an 11-hour-five-minute epic in 2010, suddenly grabbed his left knee after a serve in the opening game.
After receiving attention he battled on for a while but threw down his racket at 1-1 and shook hands with Mannarino. (Reuters)