Japan’s fifth seed Kei Nishikori pulled out of Wimbledon yesterday after a calf injury prevented him from playing his second-round clash.
Nishikori was scheduled to face Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo on Centre Court for a place in the last 32.
The 25-year-old first suffered the left calf injury in Halle last month, when he was forced to retire in the semi-finals against Andreas Seppi.
Photo: AFP
He had needed five sets to beat Simone Bolelli in the first round at Wimbledon on Monday and felt the injury again.
“It got worse in the fifth set of that match; it hurt so much,” Nishikori said. “It hurt to walk and run today, so I decided not to play. During the first match against Simone, I hurt pretty bad. I don’t know how I fought through, but somehow I won.”
As Giraldo goes on to face either German teenager Alexander Zverev or US wild-card Denis Kudla for a third round spot, Nishikori was left contemplating another injury setback in his career.
Nishikori, the US Open runner-up last year, did not play from April 2009 until April 2010 after undergoing surgery on his right elbow.
Last year, he was forced to quit his Madrid Masters final against Rafael Nadal with a back injury which was still affecting him by the time the French Open came around.
“I try to prepare, but I usually play 100 percent. I cannot stop. So I cannot stop injury every time,” the Japanese star said. “But when it happens, especially in Grand Slam, it’s very, very sad and disappointing.”
On Tuesday, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray swept into the Wimbledon second round, but women’s third seed Simona Halep and last year’s runner-up, Eugenie Bouchard, slumped to defeat in sweltering London.
Second-seeded Federer, bidding to become the first man to win eight Wimbledon titles and take his majors tally to 18, enjoyed a 67-minute, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win over Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia, the world No. 88 he beat at the French Open last month.
Federer will face Sam Querrey of the US for a place in the last 32.
Two-time champion Nadal, defeated in the second, first and fourth rounds in the past three years, enjoyed a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Thomaz Bellucci, his fifth win in five meetings against the 42nd-ranked Brazilian.
Tenth-seeded Nadal, at his lowest ranking for a decade, faces Germany’s Dustin Brown for a place in the last 32. Brown beat him on grass at Halle last year.
Temperatures on Tuesday rocketed to about 30oC, but yesterday was set to top the Wimbledon record of 34oC set in 1976.
Organizers say the heat rule, which allows for a 10-minute break between the second and third sets of women’s matches, can be used when temperatures rise above 30.1oC.
However, the rule, which has been adopted by Wimbledon after lobbying from the WTA, does not apply to men, even though they have to slug it out over the best of five sets.
Nadal, who hails from in sun-kissed Mallorca, said he would be happy to see the sun keep shining.
“In Australia, it can be much, much worse, so it’s no comparison, but actually it’s beautiful,” the Spaniard said. “When you have this weather here in Wimbledon, it’s probably one of the best places in the world.”
Murray, the 2013 champion, enjoyed a comfortable 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, the world No. 59. The Scot next faces Dutchman Robin Haase.
“It was very hot. That changes the way the court plays and the way the match plays out,” Murray said.
“I was glad to get off in three sets, a couple of hours, because ideally, you don’t want to be playing extremely long matches in those conditions,” Murray said.
Defending women’s champion Petra Kvitova, the second seed, barely had time to work up a sweat, taking just 35 minutes to reach the second round in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kiki Bertens, the world No. 108 from the Netherlands.
Kvitova, also the 2011 champion, dropped just one point on serve and next meets Kurumi Nara of Japan for a place in the third round. Her win was the fastest on the women’s tour in five years.
However, Halep, a semi-finalist last year, became the tournament’s biggest casualty so far when she lost 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to Jana Cepelova of Slovakia.
The 22-year-old Cepelova, ranked 106 in the world, had won only one match on the tour all year before Tuesday, but had big match experience by beating world No. 1 Serena Williams in Charleston last year.
She goes on to face another Romanian, Monica Niculescu, in the second round.
“I had no expectations coming here, but I didn’t expect to lose in the first set,” Halep said.
Also leaving early was the sport’s poster girl, Bouchard. The 21-year-old Canadian lost 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 to Chinese qualifier Duan Ying-ying, the world No. 117, who had never previously beaten a player inside the top 75.
The defeat was 12th-seeded Bouchard’s 12th in her past 14 matches and will see her drop out of the world top 20.
However, Bouchard said she had played against medical advice having suffered a grade-two abdominal tear at Eastbourne last week.
“Probably would have been smart not to play here, but I couldn’t pass on Wimbledon. So I did minimal preparation to save myself for the match,” Bouchard said.
Danish fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki, 10th-seeded German Angelique Kerber and 13th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland, the runner-up in 2012, also went through.
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