Roger Federer will be celebrated at Wimbledon; pregnant Serena declines invitation

Wimbledon: Roger Federer will be back on Centre Court at Wimbledon on Tuesday. No, not to compete: He’ll be feted for his record-setting career at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.

Federer, who announced his retirement last year, won eight of his 20 Grand Slam singles championships at the All England Club, the most ever by a man — a mark that Novak Djokovic will try to equal this year.

Martina Navratilova set the overall standard by claiming nine women’s singles titles at Wimbledon.

“Pleased to say that Roger will be with us tomorrow, and we will have a special celebratory moment on Centre Court before play starts, just to honor him as the man holding the most Gentleman’s Singles titles here at Wimbledon,” All England Club chairman Sally Bolton said Monday, the first day of action at the twoweek event.

“We’ll have a moment just to celebrate his achievements and to say thank you, I think, for us, certainly, for all the memories,” Bolton said. She said that Serena Williams, who won seven of her 23 major singles trophies at Wimbledon, was invited, too, “but ... she’s pregnant, so understandably couldn’t travel.”

Williams also retired after last season. “(We) of course wish her lots of luck with the remainder of her pregnancy and we hope maybe we might see her next year,” Bolton said. Nick Kyrgios withdraws on eve Nick Kyrgios pulled out of Wimbledon the night before the tournament’s start, citing a wrist injury, a year after he reached his first Grand Slam final at the All England Club.

His withdrawal was announced by Wimbledon on Sunday night and Kyrgios wrote about it on social media. He was seeded 30th in the men’s bracket and was scheduled to face David Goffin on Monday. Kyrgios will be replaced in the field by a player who lost during qualifying.

“I’m really sad to say that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon this year. During my comeback, I experienced some pain in my wrist during Mallorca. As a precaution I had it scanned and it came back showing a torn ligament in my wrist,” Kyrgios posted on social media.

“I tried everything to be able to play and I am disappointed to say that I just didn’t have enough time to manage it before Wimbledon.”

He has played just one match all season, after beginning 2023 by pulling out of the Australian Open because of an injured left knee that required arthroscopic surgery. (AP)