Croatian tennis player Borna Ćorić will miss this year’s Wimbledon, where the draw in the first round awarded him the 15th tennis player in the world, Argentine Diego Schwartzman. Ćorić, however, has cited a shoulder injury as the reason for this decision, reports Gol.hr.
Ćorić will be replaced by the “lucky loser” from the qualifications in the main draw.
Thus, the only Croatian representative in the Wimbledon singles tennis competition will be Marin Čilić, who is set as the 14th seed in the tournament. On Tuesday, he will face American Mackenzie McDonald in the first round.
At a press conference in Zagreb, Borna Ćorić indirectly announced the possibility of withdrawing from Wimbledon, given that he played five matches in six days last week and won the ATP Challenger in Italy on clay.
The Croatia national team player took a break for a year due to a shoulder injury that needed surgery. However, as points for the ATP rankings cannot be won at this year’s Wimbledon, it is not worth the risk for Ćorić to expose his still not fully recovered shoulder to the efforts of playing three sets because his main mission now is to improve his ranking.
Ćorić currently ranks 203rd in the singles ATP rankings, and he pointed out a spot among the 100 best in the world as his goal, which would guarantee him a direct entry into the main draw at the biggest tournaments in the world.
The organizers of the Umag Blue Lagoon Croatia Open gave Ćorić an invitation so that he would not have to spend the quota of the remaining tournaments in which he could play with a protected ranking, and he could have his next performance in Umag.
The Umag ATP tournament is scheduled for July 25-31.
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