Rib injury forces Japan's Kei Nishikori to pull out of Wimbledon Championships
Japan's Kei Nishikori sports a dejected look after pulling out during his match against Marin Cilic of Croatia yesterday.
London: Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori pulled out of Wimbledon in agony yesterday mid-way through his last 16 match against Marin Cilic, overcome by the pain from his rib injury.
Japan's Kei Nishikori sports a dejected look after pulling out during his match against Marin Cilic of Croatia yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Nishikori looked completely out of sorts on Court Two and consulted the trainer and doctor before finally throwing in the towel at 6-1, 5-1 down in the fourth round contest.
The rib problem also forced him out of the Halle grass-court warm-up tournament ahead of Wimbledon. "It's the same injury that I had in the first match in Halle. It's not been recovering well these two weeks," Nishikori told reporters.
"After the third round, it got worse. I was hoping to get better, but it was too much pain. So I couldn't really compete.
"I was thinking about it in the second set" he said of his withdrawal. "Even before the match, I knew it was not going to be easy for me to play 100 per cent.
Also Marin was playing great on the court. Every point I played, it got worse. I didn't want to, but I guess I had to retire." Croatian ninth seed Cilic now faces seven-time champion Roger Federer in Wednesday's quarter-finals.
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