Karen Khachanov withdraws from Wimbledon Championship due to back fracture
Jun 24, 2023
Moscow [Russia], June 24 : Karen Khachanov on Friday announced his unfortunate withdrawal from the prestigious Wimbledon Championship, which will start next month as he suffered a stress fracture in his back at the French Open.
Khachanov made the announcement on his Instagram post.
"This is not an easy statement for me to write, but I have to inform you of my withdrawal from the upcoming Championships at Wimbledon," he said.
This will be the second time in a row that the Russian player will not participate in the Championship. Khachanov said that it was not an easy decision for him.
Last year Khachanov was not able to play at Wimbledon due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players. The ban was lifted for this year, with players from both countries allowed to compete as neutral athletes.
"Due to an unfortunate injury I picked up at the French Open(stress fracture and a partial fracture in sacrum S1 bone), I will not be able to participate at Wimbledon for the second year in a row. The decision to withdraw was not an easy one and I was hopping till the end during these few weeks that I would be able to recover however my medical team ensured me that in my case it wasn't possible," he added.
"As difficult as this is, I will now focus on my recovery, working diligently to get healthy and come back to tournaments in August. Meanwhile I am happy that I have my family by my side and grateful that I can be present for the birth of my second son who we are expecting really soon.
I remain committed and will use this setback as motivation to come back and hopefully keep achieving as I wish to do."
Khachanov, ranked No. 11 in the world, had reached to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, where he defeated Novak Djokovic in the first set before falling to the eventual winner in four sets.
