A Wimbledon win is out of Marat Safin's hands. The 2001 quarterfinalist, who has been missing in action for much of the spring season, withdrew from Wimbledon with a hand injury. Safin will sit out his second successive Slam after missing Roland Garros with a wrist injury.
The 20th-ranked Russian has not played
a match since falling to Franco Squillari in the opening round of the Valencia
tournament on April 28th. Prior to that loss, Safin looked sharp in scoring
a 6-4, 6-3 semifinal victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero on the red clay of Barcelona
only to retire from the final citing fatigue while trailing Carlos Moya two
sets to one.
Safin, who has posted a 12-6 record
this season, was seeded 18th and would have faced a qualifier in the first-round
at Wimbledon followed by a potential fourth-round encounter with second-seeded
Andre Agassi.
Two-time French Open finalist Alex
Corretja, who was scheduled to play 10th-seeded Brit Tim Henman in the first
round, will take Safin's spot in the draw.
Widely regarded as one of the most
talented players in tennis, the six-foot-four Safin started the 2002 season
strong by advancing the the Australian Open final and following that performance
with a semifinal appearance at Roland Garros. Since then, Safin has slumped
in Slams. He exited in the second round of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open
last year and withdrew from his third-round match with Rainer Schuettler at
the Australian Open in January due to the wrist injury.
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