Wimbledon star has to stop playing after a bad injury on the very first day of the tournament.
Former world No. 10 Denis Shapovalov had to stop playing during his first Wimbledon match because of a tough injury.
On Monday morning, all eyes were on South West London as Wimbledon 2026 officially began. Before the tournament started, some big-name players had to pull out, including British stars Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu, making a total of 19 withdrawals.
Even with these changes, the first round was full of excitement. The men’s top player, Jannik Sinner, played an intense five-set match against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanović.
Sadly, the first day also brought some sad news. Canadian star Shapovalov had to retire during his match against Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta after hurting his shoulder. He hit the corner wall on Court 6 hard during a rally. Though the wall was padded, the impact caused a serious injury.
Right after, the umpire and Carreño Busta quickly came over to help Shapovalov, who tried to continue playing. But after losing the second set 7-6, he decided it was best to stop and avoid making the injury worse. “Sorry man, I think I messed it up,” he told his opponent.
Shapovalov, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals before and famously beat Andy Murray, has only won one match since April. Meanwhile, Carreño Busta’s win means his first victory at Wimbledon.
Shapovalov wasn’t the only player to retire early in this year’s tournament. France’s Luca Van Assche also quit his first-round match against Marton Fucsovics because of a back injury, and Poland’s Maja Chwalinska twisted her ankle while about to win her match. Even though she didn’t retire then, the No. 20 seed went on to lose her match 6-2, 5-7, 2-6.