Injury worries grow prior to Wimbledon start

The Serb was unable to take to the court at a the Boodles hit-and-giggle event near London due to wrist pain, according to French sports newspaper l'Equipe.

Djokovic showed up at the exhibition venue to sooth sponsors and fulfill his off-court duties, giving nothing away about his wrist worry.

He had previously encountered the problem last April in Monte Carlo and missed several weeks of clay-court play.                  There are also concerns for the fitness of Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka, with the Swiss unable to practice due to a fever which developed on Monday.    

With Swiss tabloid reports swirling that the third seed had gone to a hospital emergency room, Wawrinka tweeted late on Wednesday from his rented Wimbledon house saying that he is recovering and expects to make his Wimbledon start.

On Thursday Spaniard Nicolas Almagro withdrew, forcing a change of the lower seedings to fill his 31st place.

In Eastbourne at the WTA tuneup event, 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova withdrew with a hamstring injury prior to her quarter-final, handing Brit Heather Watson a place in the semi-finals.

"I feel my right leg hamstring, I started to feel it yesterday morning," said second seed Kvitova. "I played quite solid match yesterday, but today was much more worse.

"I hope that I'm gonna be ready for Wimbledon. I hope that just some days off will help. I don't think it's any strain or something very serious.  But it's really painful, so I really couldn't move.

"Wimbledon is starting on Monday, and I need to be ready for there."