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Karen Khachanov has announced that he will miss the 2023 Wimbledon Championships due to an injury he sustained at the French Open.
The Russian was on the crest of a wave at Grand Slam events. He made the deep stages of all three Slams he recently contested - the semifinals of the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Australian Open, as well as the quarterfinals of the recently concluded French Open.
His impressive streak, however, is now set to end as he announced his decision to pull out of the upcoming Wimbledon championships. On Friday (June 23), the Russian stated that he has been dealing with a fracture he suffered during his French Open campaign - which ended with a loss to Novak Djokovic.
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The 27-year-old thus stated that he won’t be at the SW19 this year. This will be the second consecutive year Karen Khachanov misses Wimbledon. He was forced to sit out the tournament last year due to the governing body banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating. His last appearance was in 2021 when he made the quarterfinals.
“I have to inform you of my withdrawal from the upcoming Championships at Wimbledon. Due to an unfortunate injury I picked up at the French Open (stress fracture and a partial fracture in sacrum S1 bone), I will not be able to participate at Wimbledon for the second year in a row,” he wrote on social media.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medalist expressed his sadness about the Wimbledon withdrawal and said that he tried his best to recover in time.
“The decision to withdraw was not an easy one and I was hoping till the end during these few weeks that I would be able to recover however my medical team ensured me that in my case it wasn’t possible,” he continued.
"Grateful that I can be present for the birth of my second son" – Karen Khachanov on his Wimbledon withdrawal
Karen Khachanov also mentioned that he will be focusing on his recovery in order to be fit in time for the upcoming North American hardcourt swing in August.
“As difficult as this is, I will now focus on my recovery, working diligently to get healthy and come back to tournaments in August,” he said.
Despite the setback, the 2018 Paris Masters champion revealed that he will be looking forward to some good news as he and his wife Veronika Shkliaeva are expecting their second child together.
“Meanwhile I am happy that I have my family by my side and grateful that I can be present for the birth of my second son who we are expecting really soon,” he announced.
“I remain committed and will use this setback as motivation to come back and hopefully keep achieving as I wish to do. Thank you for your understanding and your continued support, it means a lot to me,” he added.
It is worth noting that former World No. 8 Khachanov's recent boost in results also saw him re-enter the World Top 10 after the 2023 French Open, for the first time since 2019.
