World No. 9 Victoria Mboko withdrew from Wimbledon on Friday, two days after she sustained an MCL injury in her left knee during a match at the HSBC Championships in London.
The 19-year-old Canadian announced her decision over Instagram.
“Hi everyone. I wanted to provide a quick update given everything that has happened in the past 36 hours,” Mboko said. “Unfortunately, my fall on Wednesday caused an injury to the MCL on my left knee, which sadly means I will miss the remainder of the grass season. This unfortunately means Wimbledon too, a tournament I had been so looking forward to playing this year.
“I am receiving the best medical care and my team and I are focused on a return to court as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has reached out and sent messages of support, I am so grateful to you all!”
Mboko was injured Wednesday in her singles match against Karolina Pliskova at the Queen’s Club. Mboko grabbed at her knee after slipping on the grass and was forced to retire. The No. 3 singles seed, Mboko was trailing 6-2, 3-4 at the time, and her retirement sent Pliskova to the quarterfinals.
Mboko and the legendary Serena Williams, 44, won their opening doubles match Tuesday, 7-6 (2), 6-2, against third-seeded Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe. They were scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals on Thursday night before withdrawing from the tournament.
“Lastly, thank you Serena Williams for giving me this incredible opportunity to play alongside you,” Mboko said. “I learnt so much from you and am so sorry our tournament came to an end prematurely, but I hope we can play together again soon and finish what we started.”
Darja Vidmanova of the Czech Republic will take the spot vacated by Mboko at Wimbledon, which runs from June 29-July 12.
–Field Level Media
