malvernmugadzikwa
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and former world number three Elina Svitolina have been handed wildcard entries into Wimbledon.
Williams (43) has won the third major of the year five times and returned to action this month after a five-month injury layoff. Williams is currently ranked 697th and is competing in the Birmingham Classic, having secured her first victory against a top-50 opponent in nearly four years when she beat Italian Camile Giorgi in the round of 32 last week.
Ukrainian Svitolina reached the French Open quarter-finals following a maternity break, but suffered a defeat against Czech teenager Linda Fruhvirtova on her return to grass at Birmingham last week.
British number one Katie Boulter is among the other wildcard entries after
winning her first Women’s Tennis Association title at the Nottingham Open last weekend.
Boulter will be joined by compatriots Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Katie Swan and Heather Watson as wildcard entries.
In the men’s tournament, Liam Broady, Jan Choinski, Arthur Fery, David Goffin, George Loffhagen and Ryan Peniston were handed wildcard entries.
The four outstanding wildcards — two men and two women — are yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, Karen Khachanov has been forced to withdraw from the Wimbledon Championships next month after the Russian said he had suffered a stress fracture in his back at the French Open.
Ranked number 11 in the world, Khachanov reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, where he took a set off Novak Djokovic before losing to the Serbian who eventually won the title.
The 27-year-old Russian was one of the in-form players at Grand Slams in the past 12 months, having also reached the semi-finals of the US Open last year and the Australian Open in January.
“Due to an unfortunate injury I picked up at the French Open (stress fracture and a partial fracture in sacrum S1 bone), I will not be able to participate at Wimbledon for the second year in a row,” Khachanov said on Instagram.
“The decision to withdraw was not an easy one, and I was hopping until the end during these few weeks that I would be able to recover.
“However, my medical team ensured me that in my case, it wasn’t possible,” he wrote.
Khachanov was unable to play at Wimbledon last year due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players.
The ban was lifted for this year’s championships, with players from both countries allowed to compete as “neutrals”.
The Wimbledon Championships begin on July 3. — Reuters
Online Reporter