Becker Can’t Survive Break Point Wrist Injury Forces Former Champion To Default From Third-Round Match

One awkward swing and a painful pop in the wrist ended Boris Becker’s run for a fourth Wimbledon title Friday in a jinxed year for him and the tournament.

Becker dropped his racket and clutched his right wrist the moment he struck a return of serve off the frame on the first point of an opening set tiebreaker against South African Neville Godwin.

As Becker paced back and forth along the baseline, squeezing his fist and grimacing with a look of fear, he knew right away he would not be able to go on. His wife, Barbara, watched him from the players’ guest box and tearfully buried her head in her hands.

“He hit a pretty hard second serve sliding into my body, and I turned my body away,” Becker said. “I was trying to hit a forehand, and I hit it too late. My wrist gave way, and I heard something pop. From then on, I couldn’t hold the racket anymore.”

Becker called for an injury timeout to receive treatment.

Trainer Doug Spreen sprayed an anesthetic on Becker’s wrist and taped it heavily. Becker flexed the wrist, picked up his racket and returned to court to serve. But after a few more flicks of the racket, he stopped at midcourt, turned around and told the umpire he would have to retire with the match at 6-6 (1-0).

“It feels great, obviously, to be in the fourth round of Wimbledon,” said Godwin, a qualifier ranked No. 223. “But it’s not the right way I would have liked to get there.”

Becker, the No. 2 seed behind Pete Sampras, went for a magnetic imaging scan at a nearby hospital, and said he would remain in London until his doctor arrives from Germany to diagnose the injury.

Now virtually everyone in the bottom half has about the same chance of going to the final, and one semifinalist is certain to be an unseeded player. For the first time since seeding at Wimbledon began in 1927, at least six of the top eight seeds failed to reach the fourth round.

Wimbledon’s luck, in a week when every day has seen a star depart, turned from bad to worse shortly after Becker’s injury as rain cut short play, interrupting the first match between two Brits on Centre Court in 58 years. Tim Henman led Luke Milligan 6-1, 6-3, 5-4 when the rain hit.

Only nine singles matches were completed.

American MaliVai Washington, in the quarter of the draw Becker vacated, beat Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0. Doug Flach, who upset Andre Agassi in the first round, saw his run end with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 loss to Sweden’s Thomas Johansson.

In women’s play, No. 4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario overcame a strained ligament in her right wrist to beat Naoko Sawamatsu of Japan, 6-4, 6-1. Katarina Studenikova followed up her upset of Monica Seles by beating Dominique Van Roost 6-3, 6-2.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WIMBLEDON Results: Men - Unseeded players MaliVai Washington and Thomas Johansson advanced. Women - No. 4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and No. 9 Mary Joe Fernandez advanced. Gigi Fernandez lost. Today on Centre Court: Tim Henman, Britain, vs. Luke Milligan, Britain; Pete Sampras (1), Tampa, Fla., vs. Karol Kucera, Slovakia; Steffi Graf (1), Germany, vs. Nicole Arendt, Gainesville, Fla.; Goran Ivanisevic (4), Croatia, vs. Alexander Volkov, Russia.