Tennis star who beat Federer and Nadal multiple times withdraws from Wimbledon

A big-name player has been forced to pull the plug on his Wimbledon ambitions just days before the start of the tournament. Borna Coric, who has recorded big wins over the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, will no longer be playing at SW19 this year. He was set to be involved in Friday's draw but has pulled out, with another player replacing him.

The vacancy left by Coric's withdrawal has been filled by lucky loser Marton Fucsovics. Earlier on Thursday, he was beaten in his last Wimbledon qualifier by Chris Rodesch following wins over Jurij Rodionov and Zachary Svajda. Despite losing at the final hurdle, Fucsovics will be involved in the main draw and will learn his first-round opponent on Friday.

Coric, meanwhile, will be forced to watch the action from home. He turned professional in 2013 and has secured a number of memorable wins over the years, beating Federer twice and Nadal on three occasions.

The man from Croatia has never won a Grand Slam and has only gone past the opening round at Wimbledon twice. Last year, he beat Felipe Meligeni Alves in his first match before being dumped out in straight sets by Frances Tiafoe.

Coric won his only Masters title in 2022, prevailing at the Cincinnati Open. He has failed to land another title since then, having previously won the Halle Open in 2018 and the Grand Prix Hassan II a year earlier.

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The 28-year-old is not the only player to have withdrawn from Wimbledon in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Arthur Fils was recently forced to pull out due to a back injury which reared its head at last month's French Open.

Fils had been struggling with the issue for a while before exacerbating it against Jaime Munar at Roland Garros. During that match, he was accused of faking his injury with Munar convinced that he was only suffering from cramps.

Sebastian Korda will also play no part at Wimbledon, having issued a brief statement to explain his withdrawal shortly after the French Open.

He wrote: "Unfortunately no Wimbledon for me this year. Stress fracture in my shin during the clay. Been a tough 12 months, but better days ahead."

Emma Raducanu, meanwhile, has been struggling with a back injury over the last few months and suffered more issues during her defeat to Maya Joint in Eastbourne. However, the former US Open champion is adamant that she will make it to Wimbledon.

"I think I will step on the court regardless," she said. "I've just been managing it. Normal fatigue after playing a long match, but, yeah, hopefully I can recover.

"I still have a few days before Wimbledon so I'm looking forward to kind of recovering and hopefully it settles. I would say it bothers me. I wouldn't say it's like I can't move."

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