Novak Djokovic’s path to an eighth Wimbledon may have received an unexpected – and rather unfortunate – boost after Hubert Hurkacz retired injured in his second-round match.
World No 7 Hurkacz, the seventh seed in the Wimbledon draw, was projected to be Djokovic’s quarter-final opponent at the All England Club this fortnight.
With the Pole, a semi-finalist at the event in 2021, in strong for this season, he was widely seen as someone who could stop Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz – and potentially win the title.
However, he will now be sweating on his fitness after a busy summer after disappointingly exiting the event on Thursday.
Hurkacz was handed a tough second-round draw against talented French youngster Arthur Fils, who raced to an impressive two-set lead out on Court 2.
The seventh seed rallied to take the third set and looked likely to force a decider, only for disaster to strike in the tail-end of the fourth set.
It’s tough to win a match like this against a friend,” said Fils on court afterwards.
“We were playing super good in the fourth. We had some great points. He was jumping everywhere. I’m really sorry for him. I hope he will recover quickly.”
Hurkacz’s retirement means that Djokovic will not face a top-eight player until at least the last four, where he is projected to face fourth seed Alexander Zverev.
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