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Marin Cilic and Anna Kalinskaya have announced their withdrawal from the 2023 Wimbledon Championships due to prolonged injury struggles.
Marin Cilic, the 2017 Wimbledon finalist, has been out of action since January due to a right knee injury that he picked up during the Pune Open in India. The Croatian underwent surgery to address the issue and has not played on ATP Tour due to a prolonged recovery period. He was due to play at the Libema Open, which took from June 12-18, but decided against participating.
Cilic recently announced that he is pushing back his return to tennis till after the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. The 34-year-old took to Instagram to update his fans regarding the decision, saying 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," Marin Cilic wrote on Instagram.
Cilic added that he missed competing on the Tour and thanked his fans for their support.
"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!," he added.
At the 2023 Pune Open, Cilic's last tournament, he managed to win his first-round match against Roberto Carballes Baena before withdrawing from his second-round match against eventual champion Tallon Griekspoor. The Croatian is currently ranked World No. 100.
Anna Kalinskaya has also announced her withdrawal from the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, citing a delayed recovery period. 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," she wrote.
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.
A look back into Marin Cilic's finals run at Wimbledon 2017
Marin Cilic was seeded No. 7 at the 2017 Wimbledon Championship. The Croatian entered the grass court Major with one title in the 2017 ATP Tour (the Istanbul Open) and multiple final and semifinal appearances at various events.
Cilic began his campaign in London with a swift straight sets win against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in the opening round and went on to win his next three matches without dropping a set. In the quarterfinal, he bettered No. 16 seed Gilles Muller in a tough five-setter, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1. He then defeated No. 24 seed Sam Querrey in the semifinal to set up an enthralling final against No. 3 Roger Federer.
The Swiss legend's grass prowess proved too much for Cilic to handle as Federer lifted his eighth and last Wimbledon title, beating the Croatian, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.
