Newz Forum: OTHER: Kuerton latest to withdraw from Wimbledon

Gustavo Kuerten heads a five-man list of players who have withdrawn from Wimbledon. The Brazilian, a former French Open champion, is out of the event, which runs from June 21-July 4, with a hip injury.

Argentinian Mariano Zabaleta and Paul Henri Mathieu are ruled out by knee in wrist injuries respectively, while Jarkko Nieminen has a broken wrist and Moroccan veteran Younes El Aynaoui has withdrawn for an unspecified reason. Arvind Parmar, Mark Hilton and Richard Bloomfield tonight received wild cards into Wimbledon worth at least £9,040.

Parmar earned his place in the year's third Grand Slam by winning the Lawn Tennis Association's wild card play-off today, beating Hilton in the final. Bloomfield beat Andrew Banks in the third-fourth place play-off to claim another place, leaving just one more wild card to be allocated.

That leaves Britain's Ian Flanagan with a nervous wait to see if he will be given the spot in the 128-man field, where first-round losers will walk away with £9,040. The 22-year-old beat last year's Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis in the first round of the Stella Artois Championship this week and then world number 78 Victor Hanescu in round two, but decided to miss the play-offs to concentrate on his last 16 clash with Sebastien Grosjean, which he lost 6-2 6-0.

The three remaining women's wild cards were also announced tonight, with nine-time champion Martina Navratilova and British pair Emily Webley-Smith and Katie O'Brien the recipients. Webley-Smith won the LTA play-off, beating O'Brien in straight sets in the final.

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Sportinglife