Thunderbolt in the men's table of Wimbledon amputated from one of his suitors even before his scheduled entry into contention on Tuesday.
The No. 11 seed, Italian Matteo Berrettini, finalist last year after taking out Daniil Medvedev and Roger Federer, was forced to forfeit after testing positive for Covid-19.
“It is with a broken heart that I announce that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon due to a positive test for covid-19, wrote on Instagram the 26-year-old player.
I had flu symptoms and have been in isolation for the past few days.
Although the symptoms are not severe, I have decided it is important to have another test this morning to protect the health and safety of my fellow competitors and everyone else involved in the tournament.
I have no words to describe the extreme disappointment I feel.
The dream is over for this year, but I will come back stronger.
Thank you for your support.
»
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Matteo Berrettini (@matberrettini)
The Italian, placed this year in the table part of Rafael Nadal, created a sensation last year by reaching the final of the illustrious grass event.
He had then failed on Novak Djokovic, the Serb winning at the same time his 20th Slam title.
Berrettini, winner of two tournaments in quick succession on grass in nuin (Stuttgart and Queen's), confirmed that he did not reach the final of the London Major in 2021 by chance.
After the Croatian Marin Cilic (semi-finalist at Roland-Garros), Monday, another favorite is therefore affected by the covid.
The question now is whether Novak Djokovic, who trained with Cilic on June 23, respected the barrier gestures…
Novak Djokovic & Marin Cilic practicing on Center Court.
Not normally a big deal but for Wimbledon it is, as it's the 1st time competitors have been allowed to practice on the hallowed surface before the event starts.
In my time coming here, at least.
Good move by the club.
pic.twitter.com/BBYRnLgYrN
— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) June 23, 2022