Baghdatis pulls out of Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON
Date: 22 June - 5 July
Coverage: BBC One, BBC Two, BBC HD, Red Button, website streaming (UK only) and text commentary, 5 Live, 5 Live Sports Extra,

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Baghdatis suffered the knee injury in s-Hertogenbosch on Wednesday

Former semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus has withdrawn from Wimbledon with a knee injury.

The 24-year-old, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2006 semis, picked up the injury during his match against Raemon Sluiter in the Netherlands this week.

Baghdatis, the world number 95, will be replaced in the Wimbledon draw by Karol Beck of Slovakia.

Gael Monfils was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon on Thursday with a wrist injury sustained at Queen's Club.

The Frenchman, seeded number 14 at the All England Club, pulled out of last week's Aegon Championships after his second-round victory over Andrey Golubev.

Champion Nadal out of Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON
Date: 22 June - 5 July
Coverage: BBC One, BBC Two, BBC HD, Red Button, website streaming (UK only) and text commentary, 5 Live, 5 Live Sports Extra, BBC iPlayer

I do not feel ready to compete - Nadal

World number one Rafael Nadal will not defend his Wimbledon men's singles crown because of a knee injury.

Nadal, struggling with tendinitis, tested out his fitness in exhibition matches on Thursday and Friday, but was unhappy with the state of his knee.

"Not to play Wimbledon is one of the toughest decisions in my career," said the 23-year-old Mallorcan.

Nadal is the first champion not to defend his SW19 crown since Goran Ivanisevic missed the event in 2002.

"I've played with some problems in my knees for a few months but I always felt I'd try and try," added Nadal. "You don't know what your limit is, but I have now reached the limit."

Nadal and Murray practise together

But the world number one insisted the tendinitis was not career threatening.

"It's not a chronic problem, I can recover for sure," said Nadal. "I'm going to try very hard to come back and when I come back I'm going to come back with 100% mentality because when I play now, I was thinking more about the knee.

"I'm 23 and I hope to have a long career and come back next year - no one is more disappointed than me and the Wimbledon crowd must understand I tried my best."

Nadal, the four-time French Open champion, had been drawn to play Arnaud Clement at Wimbledon on Monday.

The Mallorcan was forced to withdraw from last week's tournament at Queen's Club with knee trouble and underwent intense rehabilitation in Barcelona.

He was diagnosed with tendinitis in both quadriceps tendons as well as a small amount of fluid on the kneecaps.

The 23-year-old looked to be on the mend after practising with Andy Murray at the All England Club on Wednesday, but the following day the Spaniard seemed troubled throughout his 80-minute exhibition encounter with Lleyton Hewitt, losing in two sets to the Australian.

Nadal was determined not to concede defeat in his fight to be ready for Wimbledon and played a second exhibition match at Hurlingham against Stanislas Wawrinka on Friday.

But two hours after losing to Olympic doubles champion Wawrinka, Nadal made public his decision to pull out of Wimbledon.

"I didn't feel terrible but I was not at my best," said Nadal, referring to his fitness levels against Wawrinka.

Nadal, who beat Roger Federer in a classic final in 2008, had previously stated he would not defend his Wimbledon crown if he was not 100% fit.

Monfils withdraws from Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON
Date: 22 June - 5 July

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Monfils will be replaced by a lucky loser from qualifying

Gael Monfils has been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon with a wrist injury sustained at Queen's Club.

The Frenchman pulled out of the Aegon Championships after his second-round victory over Andrey Golubev.

Monfils, seeded number 14 for the All England Club, will be replaced in the men's singles draw by a lucky loser from qualifying.

Tommy Haas, who beat Novak Djokovic in the Halle grasscourt event on Sunday, is granted a seeding at number 24.

TEnnis news,Roddick eases through

Roddick eases through at Queen's

AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS
Venue: Queen's Club, London Dates: 8-14 June 2009 Coverage: Live coverage on BBC1, BBC2, Red Button and BBC Sport website, updates on BBC Radio 5 Live

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Highlights - Roddick cruises through at Queen's (UK users only)

Andy Roddick continued his dominance at Queen's Club with a second-round 6-1 6-4 win over Kristof Vliegen at the Aegon Championships.

The world number six has suffered only three defeats at the west London club since making his debut in 2001.

He won three titles between 2003-5 and was last victorious two years ago.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray and partner Lleyton Hewitt missed out on a place in the quarter-finals of the doubles competition after a 6-3 6-4 defeat.

The pair were beaten by fifth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach, leaving Murray free to concentrate on his second-round men's singles match against Andreas Seppi on Wednesday.

The top seed's match against the Italian is second on Centre Court, where play beginning at 1230 BST.

In the singles, former Queen's runner-up Sebastien Grosjean was forced to retire with a shoulder injury when trailing 6-2 2-1 to Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Compatriot Alberto Martin knocked out 13th seed Ernests Gulbis with a 7-6 6-4 victory, while sixth seed and 2006 runner-up James Blake secured his third-round place with a straight-sets 6-2 7-6 win over big-serving Croat Ivan Ljubicic.

Fourth seed Gael Monfils clinched his berth in the third round, along with eighth seed Mardy Fish.

Frenchman Monfils saw off Andrey Golubev in a 6-3 3-6 7-6 win while American Fish defeated France's Michael Llodra 5-7 7-6 6-3.

Roddick looked in fine touch as he searches for his fifth title at Queen's, breaking Vliegen in his opening service game and taking the first set with consummate ease.

"It felt good. Coming from the clay to the grass is one of the happiest days of my year just because there's not a lot of adjustments to be made to my game to suit the grass," said Roddick.

"I thought I served well and returned well at times. It was pretty solid all around."

The American will face Australia's Lleyton Hewitt or Portugal's Frederico Gil in the third round.

tennis news latest,nadal lost his match against robin

this was a total disaster of sports news.u watch it for ur self.

Robin Soderling Defeats Rafael Nadal at 2009 French Open - 4th Round (In Spanish) [Idioma Espanol]

(5.31.09) --- 4-time defending champion Rafael Nadal is defeated by Sweden's Robin Soderling at the 2009 French Open.

This clip is of the final few points of the match.

Soderling won the match in four sets [6-2, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6], the final set being decided on a tiebreaker (7-2).

The loss is a stunning setback for the world's #1 player, particularly as it comes on the clay surface, and especially that of Roland Garros.

Until this match, Nadal had been 31-0 at the French Open, winning four straight championships from 2005-2008.