Canadian tennis star Victoria Mboko was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon on Friday after revealing she suffered an MCL injury to her left knee during a match at the HSBC Championships on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old said the injury would keep her out of the remainder of grass court season.
“Hi everyone. I wanted to provide a quick update given everything that has happened in the past 36 hours. Unfortunately, my fall on Wednesday caused an injury to the MCL on my left knee, which sadly means I will miss the remainder of the grass season,” she said on Instagram.
“This unfortunately means Wimbledon too, a tournament I had been so looking forward to playing this year. I am receiving the best medical care and my team and I are focused on a return to court as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has reached out and sent messages of support, I am so grateful to you all!”
The injury occurred in the second set of her Round of 16 matchup against Karolína Plíšková of Czechia.
Mboko was also playing doubles with tennis great Serena Williams who returned to competitive play at the The Queen’s Club after a four year absence.
“Lastly, thank you Serena Williams for giving me this incredible opportunity to play alongside you,” said Mboko. “I learnt so much from you and am so sorry our tournament came to an end prematurely, but I hope we can play together again soon and finish what we started.”
Mboko is currently ranked ninth in the world and is coming off a third round appearance at Roland-Garros.
Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the season, runs June 29 to July 12.
