Injury Puts Ignatowich Out For the Tournament

James Ignatowich got through one match with a sprained left ankle Saturday, but said he wasn’t healthy enough to make it through another.

He and partner Matt Wright were forced to withdraw before their semifinal in Las Vegas, and now Ignatowich is also out of Sunday’s mixed doubles final.

“It got progressively worse as the match went on, and once the adrenaline went away, I realized how bad it was,” Ignatowich said.

Wright and Ignatowich went on to beat Darrian Young and Dekel Bar in a tight quarterfinal, 12-10, 12-10, but Ignatowich said he couldn’t play in the semifinals. The result of his injury means Collin and Ben Johns will walk through to the final on Championship Sunday.

“We tried to hide it as well as we could so our opponents wouldn’t pick up on it,” Wright said. “He played through the pain and got through that match. He was trying to loosen it up, but it just didn’t get better.”

Ignatowich was scheduled to play Sunday in the mixed doubles final, along with partner Anna Bright, against Johns and Anna Leigh Waters. But Ignatowich gave the verdict Saturday night that he had already made his decision and would be unable to play. With the default, the mixed crown will go to Johns and Waters.

More details to come on the extent of Ignatowich’s injury and when he’ll be able to take to the court again.