France’s Michael Llodra retired from his Wimbledon second round match against Italian 23rd seed Andreas Seppi on Thursday, taking the total of pullouts to 11 at the tournament.

Llodra had just dropped the first set 7-5 to Seppi when he called the doctor on to Court 14.

But he opted not to carry on, allowing Seppi to book a third round clash against either Japan’s Kei Nishikori or Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.

Llodra’s pull-out, believed to be through illness rather than injury, followed the Wimbledon record of seven on Wednesday.

The eight second-round retirements/walkovers so far equals the most in a single round at Wimbledon in the Open era (eight in the 2008 first round).

According to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) the most retirements/walkovers in a single round at any Slam in the Open era is nine in the first round at the 2011 US Open.

The most at Wimbledon in the Open era is 13 in 2008.

Women’s world number two Victoria Azarenka, who withdrew from the tournament with a knee injury suffered in a fall on Court One in her opener, blamed the surface for her pull-out.

But Wimbledon head groundsman Neil Stubley insisted that the All England Club courts have been prepared the same way this year as they have always been.

“They are the same height, the same soils, the same rolling regime. The firmness of the courts is where it should be at this stage of the tournament,” Stubley told the BBC.

“I don’t know why the players are slipping more. We have prepared the courts the same as always.”

Former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe believes the problems have been caused by a combination of footwear and physique.

“Tennis shoes seem to be more flexible, payers see to be able to slide even on hard courts. Maybe they should have different shoes for grass where it’s not so easy to slide,” said the American.

“Players are also getting taller. They are further from the ground, maybe the should take smaller steps.”