Karen Khachanov forced to withdraw from Wimbledon due to back injury

The 27-year-old revealed he suffered the injury at the French Open, where he reached the quarter-finals before losing a four-set battle with Novak Djokovic.

Khachanov wrote on Instagram: "This is not an easy statement for me to write but 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.

"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.

"As difficult as this is, I will now focus on my recovery, working diligently to get healthy and come back to tournaments in August.

"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."

Khachanov was unable to compete at Wimbledon last year because of the ban on Russian players and would have had high hopes of performing strongly having reached the quarter-finals in 2021, while he made the semi-finals at both the US Open last year and the Australian Open in January.

Meanwhile, Italy's Jannik Sinner, one of the biggest young stars in the game, faces a race to be fit after retiring during his quarter-final against Alexander Bublik at the ATP Tour event in Halle with a thigh injury.