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June 21, 2010

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Home » Sports » Tennis

Injured Gulbis, Safina pull out of Wimbledon

LATVIAN Ernests Gulbis, a projected third-round opponent for world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, has withdrawn from Wimbledon because of a hamstring injury, tournament organizers said yesterday.

The 21-year-old, who posted a victory over world No. 2 and top seed Roger Federer this year, was seeded 27th at Wimbledon.

His absence means Germany's Philipp Petzschner takes over Gulbis's spot in the draw as the 33rd seed. Petzschner's place in the draw is taken by lucky loser Santiago Ventura of Spain.

Gulbis joins Czech Radek Stepanek, Richard Gasquet of France, Croats Mario Ancic and Ivo Karlovic, and David Nalbandian of Argentina as high-profile casualties before the tournament has even started.

Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina of Russia withdrew from the women's event on Saturday.

Safina, who was seeded 20th for the grand slam event which starts today, has a lower back injury. Her position in the draw will now be taken by American Melanie Oudin who becomes the 33rd seed.

Stephanie Dubois of Canada, who lost in the final round of qualifying, gets a place in the 128-strong draw.

Safina has been plagued by back injuries this season and retired from the Australian Open in January. She also missed tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.

Spain's Maria Martinez Sanchez, the 22nd seed, also withdrew on Saturday because of a knee injury and her position in the draw will now be occupied by new 34th seed Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine.




 

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