Japanese No.5 seed Kei Nishikori has pulled out of the Championships ahead of his second round match. The world No.5 was due to play Colombian Santiago Giraldo in the second match on Centre Court.
Nishikori had been struggling with a left calf injury prior to the tournament after withdrawing midway through his semi-final with the same injury against Andreas Seppi in Halle.
The news leaves world No.60 Giraldo as the first man through to the third round of the men's singles. He will play either American Denis Kudla or Germany's young rising star Alex Zverev in the last 32.
In the fifth set in my last match it was hurting too much.
Fans with tickets for Centre Court on Wednesday will now get the chance to enjoy US Open champion Marin Cilic taking on Ricardas Berankis as the second match on the main show court.
Nishikori said the injury flared up again during his five-set win over Simone Bolelli in the first round. "It got better before the first match, you know, last week," Nishikori told the media shortly after confirming his withdrawal. "I thought it was really going to be okay. But last match in fifth set I was hurting too much.
"I don’t know how I fought through but somehow I won. I thought it would get better in two days but today it was still hurting, just walking and running, so I decided not to play. It is not a big injury, I think a little tear.
"I'm very disappointed. Especially [as] it's a Grand Slam. I thought I was playing well on grass. So very unfortunate to lose this chance. But, you know, I try to keep it up. Hopefully I can do well in the US series [this summer]."
The 25-year-old says his focus will now be on regaining full fitness before the American hard court swing of events gets under way. The Japanese star is expected to play the ATP 500 event in Washington DC which starts on August 8.
"I have one month before Washington," he said. "So I'm sure it's going to be okay. I need to get, you know, another good preparation for the US. I always play, you know, good in the US. I like hard courts. So I hope I can have good preparations again. I think the injury should be okay for my next tournaments."
