What do we understand by the term ‘walkover’ in tennis?
Tennis has its shares of rules which have been followed for years since the inception of the sport. One of them includes receiving a ‘walkover’ in a match.
A walkover occurs when a player wins a match after his opponent concedes that he will be unable to participate in it. It is an unfortunate part of tennis but occurs frequently. There are various reasons for getting a walkover – including injury, lack of match preparation etc.
A player who defaults a match, retires, or is defaulted shall be deemed to have lost the match
Another similar term in tennis is a ‘bye’, which means that the opponent automatically advances in a knockout competition without playing the match. This usually happens in the start of a tournament to provide proper draws.
Walkovers have been an important part of the game considering the number of injuries suffered in today’s times. The players perform at the highest levels and provide stiff competition in the sport.
Recent examples of tennis walkovers
In the first round of the Wimbledon Championships 2021, 8-time Champion Roger Federer advanced to the second round with a walkover. He won 6-4 6-7(3) 3-6 6-2 in his first game at SW19 in two years.
Mannarino played well throughout the game and took the second and third set. However, he slipped during a point with Federer and injured his knee badly. He stayed down for a while before the physios arrived but to no avail.
The Frenchman was unable to continue and retired from the match handing Federer the win.
Federer has been on the other side of things in the recent past. After his gruelling third-round win over German Dominik Koepfer, he decided to withdraw from his match against Matteo Berretini.
Berettini received a walkover and lost to eventual champion, Novak Djokovic in the next round. Federer revealed that he had fitness concerns after playing for over 4 hours and wanted to prepare himself for Wimbledon this year.
And very recently, young grand slam winner Emma Raducanu retired during the 3rd set vs Australia’s Daria Saville at Guadalajara, Mexico open.
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