Federer and Sharapova Out of Wimbledon as Seven Other Players Retire

On Wednesday 27th June 2013, seven former 1 ranked players went out of the Wimbledon tournament in a combination of injuries, surprise defeats and retirements.

The unequalled devastation of the world’s top ranks in a Grand Slam tennis tournament progressed as follows:

  • Victoria Azarenka, world number 2, knee injury, walkover
  • Steve Darcis, world number 135, shoulder injury after beating world number 5 Rafael Nadal,
  • John Isner, world number 21, knee injury,
  • Radek Stepanek, world number 45, hamstring injury,
  • Marin Cilic, world number 12, knee injury,
  • Yaroslava Shvedova, world number 55, arm injury,
  • Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, world number 7, knee injury, retired

Where matches did occur, the results were far from expected.

Maria Sharapova, the women’s singles world number 3, was beaten by world number 131 Michelle Larcher de Brito. The final score was 6 – 3, 6 – 4. Although initially seen to curse the court conditions, Sharapova later said in interviews that both players had faced the same surface and that she had simply slipped more.

Men’s world number 3, Roger Federer, was beaten on the grass by world number 116 Sergiy Stakhovsky. The final score was 65 – 77, 77 – 65, 7 – 5, 7 – 65. Asked whether the score meant the end of an era for the 31 year old player, Federer responded, “No, because I still have plans to play for many more years to come.”

Only the day before, 9th ranked Caroline Wozniaka was beaten by 196th ranked Petra Cetkovska 6 – 2, 6 – 2. The All England Lawn Tennis Club defended the state of its grass saying tests showed conditions were almost exactly the same as last year.

As Federer pointed out in spite of his disappointment, to assume that the finals would always contain the same handful of players is “somewhat disrespectful to the other opponents who are in the draw still”.

This week’s upset in rankings is testament to the depth of talent in this Grand Slam tournament, promising excitement and fresh faces in the final stages of Wimbledon.


In This Story: Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked world No. 2 in men’s singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Nadal has won 19 Grand Slam singles titles, the second-most in history for a male player, as well as 35 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles, 21 ATP Tour 500 titles and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles and the 2016 Olympic gold medal in doubles. In addition, Nadal has held the world No. 1 ranking for a total of 209 weeks, including being the year-end No. 1 five times.

In majors, Nadal has won a record twelve French Open titles, four US Open titles, two Wimbledon titles and one Australian Open title, and won at least one Grand Slam every year for a record ten consecutive years (2005–2014). Nadal has won 85 career titles overall, including the most outdoor titles in the Open Era (83) and a record 59 titles on clay. With 81 consecutive wins on clay, Nadal holds the record for the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era.

Nadal has been involved in five Davis Cup titles with Spain, and currently has a 29-win streak and 29–1 record in singles matches at the event. In 2010, at the age of 24, he became the seventh male player and the youngest of five in the Open Era to achieve the singles Career Grand Slam. Nadal is the second male player after Andre Agassi to complete the singles Career Golden Slam, as well as the second male player after Mats Wilander to have won at least two Grand Slams on all three surfaces (grass, hard court and clay).

Books #Ad

2 Recent Items: Rafael Nadal

Rafael nadal: striking gold 1

Rafael Nadal: Striking Gold

Rafael Nadal v Grigor Dimitrov Full Match | Australian Open 2017

Leave a Comment

We don't require your email address, or your name, for anyone to leave a comment. If you do add an email address, you may be notified if there are replies to your comment - we won't use it for any other purpose. Please make respectful comments, which add value, and avoid personal attacks on others. Links are not allowed in comments - 99% of spam comments, attempt to post links. Please describe where people may find additional information - for example "visit the UN website" or "search Google for..." rather than posting a link. Comments failing to adhere to these guidelines will not be published.