LONDON: The dark and somewhat distressing threat of injury has hung over Wimbledon 2024 from Day One. Much like the nimbostratus these past nine days. In the lead-up to The Championships, it was the 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic's right knee and two-time champion Andy Murray's back, both of whom had surgeries, and third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka's shoulder that were the talking points.
There was no respite from injury and illness woes in the days that followed - Aslan Karatsev (groin), Thanasi Kokkinakis (knee), Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (back), Beatriz Haddad Maia (back), Hubert Hurkacz (knee), Anna Kalinskaya (wrist), Lucas Pouille (abdominal) Madison Keys (hamstring), Grigor Dimitrov (knee), Alexander Zverev (knee) and Jannik Sinner (illness). As if that wasn't enough, on quarterfinal Wednesday, after praying for a miracle for two days, the number nine-seed Aussie Alex de Minaur withdrew from his last eight clash against Djokovic with a hip injury he suffered in the dying minutes of his fourth-round clash against Frenchman Arthur Fils on Monday.
