Khachanov Withdraws from Wimbledon with Stress Fracture in Back

Russia's Karen Khachanov serves to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their men's singles quarter final match on day ten of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
Russia's Karen Khachanov serves to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their men's singles quarter final match on day ten of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
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Khachanov Withdraws from Wimbledon with Stress Fracture in Back

Russia's Karen Khachanov serves to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their men's singles quarter final match on day ten of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
Russia's Karen Khachanov serves to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their men's singles quarter final match on day ten of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on June 6, 2023. (AFP)

Karen Khachanov has been forced to withdraw from the Wimbledon Championships next month after the Russian said on Friday he had suffered a stress fracture in his back at the French Open.

Ranked number 11 in the world, Khachanov reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros where he took a set off Novak Djokovic before losing to the Serbian who eventually won the title.

The 27-year-old Russian was one of the in-form players at Grand Slams in the past 12 months having also reached the semi-finals of the US Open last year and the Australian Open in January.

"Due to an unfortunate injury I picked up at the French Open(stress fracture and a partial fracture in sacrum S1 bone), I will not be able to participate at Wimbledon for the second year in a row," Khachanov said on Instagram.

"The decision to withdraw was not an easy one and I was hopping till the end during these few weeks that I would be able to recover, however my medical team ensured me that in my case it wasn't possible."

Khachanov was unable to play at Wimbledon last year due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players. The ban was lifted for this year's Championships with players from both countries allowed to compete as "neutrals".

The Wimbledon Championships begin on July 3.



Milan Come from Behind to Beat Juventus 2-1 in Super Cup Semi-final

Soccer Football - Italian Super Cup - Semi Final - Juventus v AC Milan - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - January 3, 2025 AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Soccer Football - Italian Super Cup - Semi Final - Juventus v AC Milan - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - January 3, 2025 AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
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Milan Come from Behind to Beat Juventus 2-1 in Super Cup Semi-final

Soccer Football - Italian Super Cup - Semi Final - Juventus v AC Milan - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - January 3, 2025 AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Soccer Football - Italian Super Cup - Semi Final - Juventus v AC Milan - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - January 3, 2025 AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini

AC Milan reached the Italian Super Cup final after coming from behind to beat Juventus 2-1 on Friday in Sergio Conceicao's first game in charge, setting up a derby decider with Inter Milan.

A second-half penalty from Christian Pulisic and an own goal by Federico Gatti completed Milan's comeback after Kenan Yildiz had fired Juve into a 21st-minute lead.

Milan will play Inter in Monday's final, after the Serie A champions overcame Atalanta 2-0 in their semi-final meeting on Thursday, where Conceicao could immediately get his hands on a trophy after replacing the sacked Paulo Fonseca as Milan manager on Monday.

The expected intrigue of a father against son battle failed to materialise, after Juventus winger Francisco Conceicao was named in the starting 11 but was withdrawn after picking up an injury in the warm-up, according to Reuters.

Conceicao's place was taken by Yildiz, and after a slow, cagey start to the game, it was the Turkish forward who broke the deadlock.

A through pass from Samuel Mbangula caught the Milan defence off guard and found Yildiz who took the ball into the area before smashing his shot into the roof of the net, beating Milan keeper Mike Maignan at his near post.

The second half began with another Yildiz effort going just wide in the opening seconds, and shortly afterwards, he played a low pass across the area but Dusan Vlahovic sent his effort wide.

Milan had a massive chance to equalise from a corner kick when the ball fell to Theo Hernandez, but he somehow managed to send a shot over the bar from close range.

The game at last opened up and Nicolo Savona's foul on Hernandez gave Milan a penalty kick in the 71st minute which Pulisic sent straight down the middle to beat Michele Di Gregorio.

Milan went ahead four minutes later, through an own goal. Yunus Musah's cross took a wicked deflection off Juve defender Gatti which took the ball past Di Gregorio who had come off his line.

"For our second-half performance, we deserved the final. In the first half I saw a Milan with many doubts, like a few weeks ago," Conceicao told SportMediaset.

"Then we spoke at halftime. We had to understand what we had to do to win and they were really brave."

Deep into added time, Juventus had one last chance to send the game to penalties, but Gatti's volleyed effort from close range went just wide.

The Milan manager embraced his son after the game before celebrating with his players, and Conceicao will now aim to stop Inter from winning their fourth consecutive Super Cup trophy.

"The second half was completely different, but we haven't done anything yet," Conceicao said.

"We have one less day of rest and this is an important factor."