Israel’s Sela retires from Wimbledon with leg injury

Dudi Sela, Israel’s top-ranked men’s singles tennis player, ended his run at Wimbledon on Saturday when he was forced to retire due to an injury during his match with Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.

Sela, 32, was down 6-1, 6-1 when he stopped playing, ending his third round match against 13th seed Dimitrov.

Sela received treatment on his inner right thigh in the second set, but carried on playing. However, he announced that he had to stop before the start of the third set.

Sela had advanced to the last 32 in the tournament after a shock win against American John Isner in the second round, an upset that was highlighted by the height difference between them. Sela is just 5-foot-7 (1.75 meters) compared to Isner who stands at 6-foot-8 (2.08 meters.)

Sela once reached Wimbledon’s fourth round, in the 2009 tournament.

It was the 11th retirement so far at Wimbledon — nine in the men’s draw and two in the women’s, notably that of Bethanie Mattek-Sands who suffered a horrific knee injury on court.

Dimitrov, 26, is through to the fourth round for just the second time in his career.

The 2008 Wimbledon junior champion will meet either Roger Federer or Mischa Zverev on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.