Croatian tennis player Marin Cilic withdraws from Wimbledon 2023

2017 finalist Marin Cilic of Croatia has decided to withdraw from the Wimbledon 2023 tennis tournament. Cilic is recovering from a right knee injury he suffered at the start of the season.

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Cilic defeated Roberto Carballes Baena in Pune in his opening match of the Maharashtra Open season, when Cilic took the court to practice for his next match, he felt pain in his right knee and withdrew from the Wimbledon 2023. He was due to play at the Libema Open, which took from June 12-18, but decided against participating. Cilic is currently No. 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

The Croatian reached the final at The Championships in 2017. Cilic owns a 31-13 record at the grass-court major. Cilic recently announced that he is pushing back his return to tennis till after the Wimbledon 2023 Championships. The 34-year-old took to Instagram to update his fans regarding the decision. He said he does not want to rush his recovery and his post-surgery training has been going well.

"I'm sad to be missing the grass season and especially Wimbledon; this is a highlight of the season for every tennis player, but I know how important it is not to rush the recovery process. Things have generally been going well the last few weeks with my post-surgery training so I'm staying positive and focused on my long-term recovery." Cilic wrote on Instagram.

"I hope that I'll be competing very soon. I miss being on Tour, the tournaments and the fans, and I can't wait to get back to all of that, to feel the thrill of stepping on court & competing. Until then, I'll keep training and sharpening my motivation. Thanks for your continued support as always." Cilic added.

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Apart from Cilic, Anna Kalinskaya has also announced her withdrawal from the Wimbledon 2023 Championships, citing a delayed recovery period. Kalinskaya, currently ranked World No. 57, has not played professionally since suffering a left hamstring injury during her third-round match against Elena Rybakina at the 2023 Italian Open in May. In an Instagram Story, the Russian expressed her regret at not being able to play at her "favorite tournament."

"Heartbreaking. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to recover from my injury and it's taking longer than I expected... missing my favorite tournament." Anna wrote.