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Injury forces seventh seed Hurkacz to quit Wimbledon match

Breakthrough: Arthur Fils on his way to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time after Hubert Hurkacz was forced to retire (ANDREJ ISAKOVIC)
Breakthrough: Arthur Fils on his way to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time after Hubert Hurkacz was forced to retire (ANDREJ ISAKOVIC)

Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, seen as an outside tip for the Wimbledon title, was forced to quit his second-round match against Arthur Fils with a knee injury on Thursday.

Seventh-seeded Hurkacz, who made the semi-finals in 2021 after ending the Wimbledon career of eight-time champion Roger Federer, hurt himself as he dived for a ball during the fourth set tie-break.

After limping back to his chair on Court Two, he then continued for two more points but eventually called it quits to hand 20-year-old Fils a place in the last 32 of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Fils had taken the first two sets 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Hurkacz claimed the third 6-2 and had a set point in the fourth before his afternoon suffered a premature end.

"It's not nice to win like that against a friend. We had a very good match, he was diving everywhere," said 34th-ranked Fils.

"I hope he gets better quickly. Now I’m focusing on the next round."

Fils will face either Roman Safiullin of Russia or the Czech Republic's Tomas Machac for a place in the last 16.

"I didn't like grass very much in the past, but it turns out that I can play it quite well," said the Frenchman.

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