Wimbledon, England – No less than four men pulled out of the Wimbledon draw Wednesday, including 10th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic, 18th-seeded American John Isner and giant-killer Steve Darcis.
The recent Queen's Club grass-court runner-up Cilic was scheduled to meet Frenchman Kenny De Schepper on Day 3, but decided against playing due to a left knee injury, while the 6-foot-10 Isner was playing Frenchman Adrian Mannarino when he retired at 1-1 in the first set, also citing a left knee injury.
Isner hurt his knee early in his match against Mannarino, took an injury timeout and called it quits after two games.
The towering American, of course, is best known at the All England Club for playing the longest match in tennis history three years ago with a five-set marathon in the first round against Nicolas Mahut. The 11-hour, 5-minute epic took three days to complete because of rain and darkness, ending with a 70-68 score in the final set.
Also pulling out was Darcis and Czech veteran Radek Stepanek.
Darcis posted one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history on Monday when he shocked two-time Wimbledon champion and reigning French Open titlist Rafael Nadal in straight sets. But he was unable to meet Poland's Lukasz Kubot because of a right shoulder injury.
"Had to withdrawn after a win like this!?THE most difficult thing i had to do!!!#triedeverythingtoplaybutdidntwork!!!!" Darcis wrote on his Twitter account.
Stepanek was losing to 6-foot-8, 24th-seeded Pole Jerzy Janowicz 6-2, 5-3 when he retired from their match due to a thigh injury.
Rising 25th-seeded Frenchman Benoit Paire subdued fellow countryman Stephane Robert 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, while Serb Viktor Troicki topped Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 and German Dustin Brown doused 2002 Wimbledon champ and former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2.
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