Wimbledon losing sheen, two more players pull out

Injury continues to cast a shadow over this year’s Wimbledon and now Mario Ancic and Li Na have joined the list of wounded players who pulled out of the prestigious Grand Slam event at the All England Club. Croatian Ancic’s prolonged illness ruled him out of the event while Chinese Li was indisposed with a rib injury Wimbledon this year has seen a substantial number of players skipping the event with injury. Among the women, 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, Vera Zvonareva, Zheng Jie and Romina Oprandi have already pulled out, while in men’s singles, Gaston Gaudio, Xavier Malisse, Jurgen Melzer, Paradorn Srichaphan and Jose Acasuso also withdrew for various injury-related reasons. This was the second Grand Slam event in a row that Ancic missed because of mononucleosis. The lanky player was seeded 18th this year and his best show at Wimbledon came in 2004 when he reached the semifinals. Ancic holds the record of being the last player to beat world number one Roger Federer at Wimbledon, back in 2002. In Ancic’s absence, Canadian Frank Dancevic has been drafted in the main draw. Incidentally, Li was also seeded 18th. A quarterfinalist last year, Li is the first Chinese to advance to that stage of any Grand Slam event. French woman Alize Cornet will replace Li this year.