Wimbledon injury dropouts raises questions about motives

Tennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 4, 2017 Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov receives medical attention before having to retire from his first round match against Switzerland’s Roger Federer REUTERS/Matthew Childs

LONDON (Reuters) - Sympathy was in short supply for Wimbledon's walking wounded on Tuesday after back-to-back retirements robbed Centre Court fans of what should have been a blockbuster double bill featuring Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

The 15,000-strong crowd drew a collective gasp as within the space of 70 minutes Martin Klizan and Alexandr Dolgopolov called it quits in their first round matches against Djokovic and Federer, respectively -- leaving the Centre Court schedule done and dusted by 4:50 p.m. local time.