LONDON: Karen Khachanov has been forced to withdraw from the Wimbledon Championships next month after the Russian said on Friday he had suffered a stress fracture in his back at the French Open. Ranked number 11 in the world, Khachanov reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros where he took a set off Novak Djokovic before losing to the Serbian who eventually won the title.
The 27-year-old Russian was one of the in-form players at Grand Slams in the past 12 months having also reached the semi-finals of the U.S. Open last year and the Australian Open in January.
“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,” Khachanov said on Instagram.
“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.” Agencies
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