Marin Cilic on Wednesday announced his withdrawal from Wimbledon as he continues his recovery from a right knee injury he suffered at the beginning of the season.

The Croatian reached the final at The Championships in 2017. Cilic owns a 31-13 record at the grass-court major.

“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,” Cilic wrote on Instagram. 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. 💪

“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! 🙏🏼🎾”

 

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Cilic won his opening match of the season against Roberto Carballes Baena in Pune, but when he stepped on court to warm up for his next match, he felt pain in his right knee and withdrew from the tournament.

The Croatian has not played a match since. Cilic is currently No. 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Yannick Hanfmann’s strong 2023 hit a new high Wednesday at the Mallorca Championships.

The German defeated top seed and defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 at the grass-court ATP 250 in Spain’s Balaeric Islands for the biggest win of his career. Hanfmann won 80 per cent (36/45) of points behind his first serve in a rock-solid performance to reach his first non-clay ATP Tour quarter-final.

“I think a lot of things have to work to beat a Top 10 player,” said Hanfmann after his win against the World No. 5. “I think I had a really good start. Maybe Stefanos was a little bit rusty in the conditions. With the wind and the grass it was not that easy, so maybe having a match already on the first day was really important.

“I served really well in all three sets. Just that one service game with two double faults, but overall I’m really happy with my performance.”

Biggest win of his career! 👊@YannickHanfmann takes out the defending champion in Mallorca, Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4 3-6 6-2 💪@MallorcaChamps | #MallorcaChampionships pic.twitter.com/RRcO6zg409

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 28, 2023

Hanfmann broke Tsitsipas’ serve in the opening game of the match and two more times in the deciding set to seal his victory. The 31-year-old, who broke the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday, now holds a 16-9 record for 2023. He reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in May in Madrid, a run that included Top 10 victories against Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev.

Now into the quarter-finals on Mallorca debut, Hanfmann will next take on Jordan Thompson or home favourite Feliciano Lopez, who is playing the final event of his 26-year ATP Tour career.

Christopher Eubanks also upset a seeded opponent to reach his first tour-level quarter-final on grass in Mallorca. The American downed his countryman Ben Shelton 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(2) in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. Eubanks hit 40 winners to Shelton’s 30 for a hard-earned two-hour, 43-minute triumph.

The 27-year-old Eubanks will next face Arthur Rinderknech, after the lucky loser defeated his fellow Frenchman Constant Lestienne 6-3, 6-2.

Tournament organisers at Wimbledon announced on Wednesday the seeds for the 2023 edition of The Championships, headlined by first seed Carlos Alcaraz and second seed Novak Djokovic.

From 2002-2019, Wimbledon used a seeding formula that took into account players’ success on grass. But starting from the 2021 edition (no tournament in 2020), organisers reverted to using the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Alcaraz will be the top seed at the second consecutive major after leading the way at Roland Garros, where he lost in the semi-finals to Djokovic. The Serbian over the coming fortnight will try to tie Roger Federer’s record by claiming his eighth Wimbledon title.

Rounding out the Top 8 seeds are third seed Daniil Medvedev, fourth seed Casper Ruud, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, sixth seed Holger Rune, seventh seed Andrey Rublev and eighth seed Jannik Sinner.

Nick Kyrgios, the Australian who reached last year’s Wimbledon final, is World No. 33 in this week’s Pepperstone ATP Rankings. However, due to the withdrawal of Karen Khachanov and Pablo Carreno Busta, who would have been seeded, Kyrgios is the 31st seed. 

The last player to be seeded is 32nd seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. If there is a withdrawal among the seeds before Friday’s draw, Ben Shelton is next in line to be seeded.

An all-Californian clash on the English south coast went the way of Mackenzie McDonald on Wednesday in Eastbourne, where the World No. 64 downed top seed and defending champion Taylor Fritz at the Rothesay International.

McDonald recovered a break deficit in both sets to clinch a 7-6(3), 7-6(8) second-round victory at the grass-court ATP 250. His two-hour, 21-minute upset of the World No. 9 Fritz was McDonald’s third against an opponent in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, and his second of 2023 after he defeated then-World No. 2 Rafael Nadal at January’s Australian Open.

“It’s a big win for me,” said McDonald in his on-court interview. “Taylor’s a close friend, and it’s always tough playing your friends. It was a battle out there. I’m happy with how I competed and I think I put on a show today, so it was really fun.”

The 28-year-old McDonald stayed cool under pressure to triumph in his third Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Fritz, who lifted the trophy in Eastbourne in 2019 as well as 2022. McDonald rallied from 2-5 in the first set and 2-4 in the second, and was forced to save two set points in the second-set tie-break before sealing his spot in his fourth ATP Tour quarter-final of the year.

“[I was] a little bit [calm], but also stressed too,” said McDonald, when asked about how he had retained his composure at tight moments against Fritz. “Tennis isn’t all fun and games sometimes, but I tried to have more of a relaxed mindset today. I felt that a bit, and I think that really helped me.”

McDonald, who is making his debut in Eastbourne this week, will take on Mikael Ymer or home favourite Liam Broady in the last eight. Defeat in Eastbourne means that 2022 Wimbledon quarter-finalist Fritz heads to this year’s edition of the London major with a 2-3 record on grass for 2023.

Eighth seed Miomir Kecmanovic also rode out some tough moments to book his quarter-final spot on Wednesday. The Serbian saved a set point in the first-set tie-break and reeled off four games in a row from 2-4 in the second set for a 7-6(6), 6-4 win against qualifier Aleksandar Vukic. The World No. 41 Kecmanovic will take on Gregoire Barrere next, after the Frenchman upset fifth seed Nicolas Jarry 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.