Second seed Victoria Azarenka has withdrawn from Wimbledon after failing to recover from knee injury sustained in her first round’s victory over Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal.
Steve Darcis, the Belgian who sent Rafael Nadal packing in their first round match, had earlier pulled out with a shoulder problem.
Both John Isner and Radek Stepanek were also forced to retire from the championship in the early stages of their second –round match.
French sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired due to injury during his Wimbledon second-round match against Latvian Ernests Gulbis.
And on the busy Day 3 of 2013 Wimbledon, Marin Cilic also withdrew from the championship because of injury.
Petra Kvitova received a walkover after her opponent Yaroslava Shvedova pulled out of their court 1 match with an arm injury.
Azarenka defeated Joao Koehler after lengthy treatment and heavy strapping but failed to recover in time to face Italian Flavia Pennetta on centre court. The 23-year-old Australian Open champion appeared to tweak her knee when she fell over during that victory.
Meanwhile, the Belarusian wants the All England Club to investigate why so many players are suffering tournament-ending falls at Wimbledon after she and six others withdrew on Day 3.
“My opponent fell twice; I fell badly; there were some other people who fell after. It 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,” she said.
Darcis, who was scheduled to play Lukasz Kubot of Poland announced his withdrawal on Twitter (@stevedarcishark): Having to throw in the towel after beating Rafa!? THE hardest decision of my career!!! #triedmybestanyway!!!”
Neither Darcis nor Azarenka took to the court for their second round matches.
“It happened against Rafa in the middle of the first set when I fell down,” 135th-ranked Darcis added.
“After the (Nadal) match, a few hours after, I start to feel so much pain, I couldn’t sleep that night. I saw the physio and the doctor yesterday. They did a good job. It’s a little bit better today. But no chance I can play. I mean, I cannot serve. Even on the forehand side, I cannot hit a ball. It makes no sense to go on the court to withdraw after two games.”
Both Isner and Stepanek required treatment during their second round matches but failed to recover enough to continue.
American Isner had played just two games of his match against Adrian Mannarino of France when he was forced out with an injury to his left knee.
“Always 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,” he said.
“It wasn’t like a pop… it just grabbed like really badly, and I knew I was in serious trouble then. I knew at that point it was not likely I was going to be able to play.”
Stepanek soon followed, trailing one set to love and 5-3 to 24th seed Jerzy Janowicz, when he retired with a thigh problem.
