Wimbledon injuries claim Isner, Azarenka, Tsonga

USATODAY

The USA's John Isner had to retire from his Wimbledon match on Wednesday with a left knee injury.

He is one of six players now out with injuries.

Also out are Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Victoria Azarenka, Radek Stepanek, Marin Cilic and Steve Darcis, the guy who stunned Rafael Nadal in the first round. He injured his shoulder and could not play his second round match.

Tsonga was the latest of the six. He was struggling in his match against Ernests Gulbis when he suddenly retired with a knee injury.

Isner was playing Adrian Mannarino and was hurt on a routine serve. He took an injury timeout but ultimately was not able to continue.

"I knew I was in serious trouble," Isner said about coming down wrong on his leg after a serve.

Isner began the year with problems with his right knee.

Players have had trouble during the first two days of Wimbledon with slipping on the grass surface. Azarenka, a Wimbledon semifinalist two years ago, fell down twice in her opening round match.

"The doctor made it very clear to me it would be a very high risk," Azaranka said of her knee injury which appears to be a bone bruise. "We tried to do everything we could, but it was a very significant fall," she said. "To recover in two days after that seemed impossible."

Darcis hurt his shoulder diving for a ball in his match against Nadal.

"After the match, a few hours after, I start to feel so much pain, I couldn't sleep that night," he said. ".... I cannot serve. It makes no sense to go on the court to withdraw after two games."

Isner did not have a problem of falling. He just seemed to come down wrong on his left leg. Isner won his first match on Monday beating Evgeny Donskoy 6-1, 7-6, 7-6 in just 1 hour, 43 minutes.

"It didn't pop," Isner said. "It just grabbed, like, really badly, and I knew I was in serious trouble then. I mean, I knew at that point it was not likely I was going to be able to play."

Three years ago Isner lit up Wimbledon by defeating Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in tournament history. The match went 11 hours over three days and 70-68 in the fifth set.

Contributing: Associated Press