Wimbledon star pulls out after draw and gets £40k without playing | Tennis | Sport
Mattia Bellucci has pulled out of the Wimbledon men’s singles draw (Image: Getty)
Wimbledon have confirmed that Mattia Bellucci has withdrawn from the men’s draw and has been replaced by a lucky loser. It means Bellucci takes home 50 per cent of the first-round prize money despite not even taking to the court. The Italian, who reached the third round in 2025, was due to face American Zachary Svajda in the second match on Court 11 on Tuesday. But almost 48 hours before that clash, Bellucci has become the first player to pull out after the draw and will go home having banked £40,000.
Players who compete in the first round earn £80,000 and those who pull out still receive 50 per cent of that amount. World No.65 Bellucci’s withdrawal means Svajda will take on 23-year-old Pablo Llamas Ruiz of Spain instead. Llamas Ruiz is ranked 119th and had lost in four sets to Tristan Boyer, another American, in the final round of qualifying at Roehampton.
It will be the first time both Svajda and Llamas Ruiz have played in the main draw at the All England Club having only ever competed in Wimbledon qualifying before this.
Svajda, 23, has risen to world No. 62 after making his debut at the French Open last month, reaching the fourth round after upset wins against Alexei Popyrin, Adam Walton and 25th seed Francisco Cerundolo. He lost to eventual runner-up Flavio Cobolli.
There have been injury concerns for several big names in the men’s draw – including defending champion Jannik Sinner who suffered a shock loss in round two at the French Open while struggling physically. Asked how he’s feeling for Wimbledon, Sinner said: “I had general tests to see health-wise how I was, to be sure that all is okay with the body, which it is. All the tests were really good.
“Even though we are very sure we need to practice in hotter conditions. I feel like everywhere where we play is going to be very hot. Every year is getting warmer and warmer. It is a very important topic. But at the same time I’m happy the work we’re doing. We try to improve in the best possible way, then we see how it goes in the future.”
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Lucky loser Pablo Llamas Ruiz is now into the Wimbledon main draw (Image: Getty)
Similarly, Novak Djokovic struggled with the hot conditions in Paris. And the 39-year-old Serb, a seven-time winner at Wimbledon, said: “I think I’m better prepared here than I was for Roland Garros. Obviously playing on grass, comparing to clay, you don’t need to exert as much physical effort. So that’s better for me.
“I always loved playing on grass. I have a very good history here, in Wimbledon. That gives me, of course, a higher dose of confidence coming into the tournament. Roland Garros was physically very draining, demanding. Three matches that I played, all of them went almost four hours.
“But I’m proud of the effort. I lost in the third round against a 20 years younger opponent, fought until the end in the five sets almost, four and whatever hours that we played. Of course maybe not the result I was looking for, but the effort was there. Anyway, I was planning to peak at Wimbledon after the injury of the shoulder that kind of kept me away from the tour for several months.
“I knew not having any matches, official matches on the tour, going pretty much straight into Roland Garros, is going to be quite difficult. Maybe too big of a challenge for me at the moment. That’s what happened. But I knew that’s going to give me a bit more time to get myself prepared for Wimbledon. So hopefully I’ll have a good tournament here.”
