America’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands suffered a horror knee injury at Wimbledon on Thursday which left her screaming and crying in pain in the middle of the court.
The 32-year-old collapsed to the ground after damaging her right knee as she approached the net in the first game of the deciding set against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea on Court 17.
“Please help me, please, please,” screamed the 32-year-old in scenes so distressing that television cameras panned away from the stricken player.
Cirstea said she had never seen such an injury.
“I freaked out. I have never seen such an injury before, the knee was really in a bad position. It was like something you see only in the movies,” said Cirstea.
“I tried to comfort her but I panicked. I felt useless. All she kept saying was ‘Sorana, help me, help me’. I wish I could have done more. You wouldn’t wish that on your worst enemy.”
Mattek-Sands’s husband Justin tried to console his wife as medics arrived, while Cirstea was distraught and in tears. After lying prone on the ground for around 20 minutes, Mattek-Sands was eventually stretchered away and taken to a west London hospital where she was said to have suffered “an acute knee injury”.
Mattek-Sands’s doubles partner, Lucie Safarova, with whom she shares the world number one ranking as well as four Grand Slam titles, also arrived at the scene in tears.
Cirstea, who had dropped the first set 4-6 but took the second 7-6 (4), was declared the winner of the second round match.
But she questioned why it took the medical services so long to react to her friend’s distress.
“I told them to bring a stretcher because everyone froze, nobody reacted,” added Cirstea who said only she, her physio and Justin Mattek-Sands initially raced to the player’s assistance. “She went into shock and it took so long for the medical team to arrive. It felt like forever.
“What if it was a heart attack. You should look at the video and time how long it took. I was there 10 to 15 minutes and the stretcher had still not arrived.”
Wimbledon issued a series of tweets with information on the response time from the medical team.
“The first response to Court 17 was within one minute, by a qualified ambulance technician,” read the statement from the tournament. The player was kept on court while pain relief was given. The player was then transferred directly to an ambulance and taken under emergency conditions to a hospital.”
Wimbledon courts are no stranger to injury controversies. In 2013, Victoria Azarenka fell heavily, hurting her ankle and blamed the state of the courts.
Maria Sharapova said the surface on Court Two where she lost to Michelle Larcher de Brito was “dangerous” after she fell a number of times. The 2004 champion required treatment on her hip as a result.
Players were also angry that the stadium microphones had not been switched off.
“Really wish they would turn the cameras and mics off on Bethanie’s court,” tweeted fellow American player Madison Keys as the shocking images and sounds of her compatriot were played out on the tournament TV screens.
Mladenovic slipped during her match on Thursday.
No12 seed Kristina Mladenovic, who lost her second round to Alison Riske 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, walked into her press conference with an ice pack on her knee, having suffered a bad fall during her match. Mladenovic and Riske told officials during their warm-up on Court No. 18 that they didn’t feel the court was safe enough to play on.
“It’s quite unique with your opponent, after two games, you both agree on stopping playing in a slam,” explained the Frenchwoman. “You asking the referee to tell you what’s the rule if the both players don’t want to keep on playing. And the answer is that they just can’t do anything, unfortunately, and you have to keep on playing. In case something bad happens…
“We just had to keep on playing. I’m not sure how the other courts are, if they’re damaged that much as Court 18. I play on Court 3 my first round. Didn’t look bad at all. But it was first round.
“I think you can all pretty much see. First of all, I don’t know, the colour of the court, the fact that there’s no more grass, the fact that the baseline where we are running, it’s very slippery. There’s no grass. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s not even clay. It’s not flat. I mean, I don’t know.
“So it makes, of course, it tough to put your strong footwork. You kind of have to run light and be careful, I don’t know, not to push or press too much, too hard, which is strange to play on. But, yeah, I’m just honestly very happy and blessed that I didn’t injure myself that much.”
Mladenovic added that she realised how slippery the court was during the warm-up because she twisted her ankle and that the referee came out and took pictures of a “huge hole on the sides”, saying the ground “wasn’t even flat”.
Mladenovic was not happy with the court conditions.
The No12 seed said that they were told by officials that the warm, sunny weather has made the courts drier than usual.
“It was quite obvious that we had the referee at the end of the warm-up. It’s nothing to do with the match. After 1-All, two games, it’s quite unique. It never happened to me to have such a situation,” said Mladenovic.
“I don’t know, I don’t want to call it negligence or anything, but yeah, I just hope nobody gets injured. That’s the thing. That’s a tricky feeling.
“I would like to be disappointed about my match, my loss. I’m just actually feeling happy that I didn’t injure myself much because I really felt bad with my knee when I fell down.”
Mladenovic also said that the topic of slippery courts is being discussed among the players in the locker room and that it’s not just one court that is in poor condition.
“Lots of courts. I’m not sure where the girls played. I am on the ladies member locker room, so I don’t meet many players. But the one I talk to, they — I don’t know in which court (Agnieszka) Radwanska played (Court No. 2), but she said it was horrible, as well. I don’t know,” concluded Mladenovic.
Later on Thursday, the AELTC released a statement regarding the court conditions that read: “On Thursday 6 July the Grand Slam Supervisor (Pam Whytcross) and the Assistant Referee (Denise Parnell) both attended Court 18 during the Mladenovic vs Riske match, inspected it, and in their experienced view judged it playable as per normal. The Head of Courts and Horticulture (Neil Stubley) and the Head Groundsman (Grant Cantin) were also in attendance.
“The court preparation has been to exactly the same meticulous standard as in previous years. Grass is a natural surface and it is usual for the baselines to start to be showing signs of wear and tear four days into The Championships.
“The AELTC and Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) take hardness readings every morning in order to ensure that the courts have the right level of moisture and are playing consistently. No readings of any significance have been taken from Court 18. We will continue to monitor these readings and adjust our care plan for the grass appropriately.”
