8 Players Retire Mid Match at Wimbledon
The sun has shone on Wimbledon during the first couple days, but it wasn’t the excessive heat which accounted for an extraordinary number of player retirements during first round singles matches. In all, eight players, i.e., seven men and one woman, called it quits in mid match. There were different injuries and explanations in each situation and nothing to really tie all the retirements together except possibly the wear and tear of the long tennis tournament calendar. There have been comments that maybe
some of these players may have had pre-existing injuries and possibly shouldn’t have walked onto the court in the first place, i.e. they should have given up their main draw spot to a lucky loser. However, there is a faulty logic at work in those sentiments. Any player who has played well enough to earn a place in the Wimbledon singles main draw deserves the chance to play as few, or as many games, as he or she feels capable of completing. They also deserve to earn the not insignificant first round prize money, i.e. approximately $20,000, which they would have had to forfeit if they withdrew before playing their first round match. Wimbledon is the tournament that every junior tennis player dreams of playing. Our sympathies belong with these players who felt they needed to retire in mid match at Wimbledon in order to avoid further injury.
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