Wimbledon star Alize Cornet suffered a nasty fall on Centre Court as she burst into tears during her second-round match against Elena Rybakina. Cornet’s clear distress prompted defending champion Rybakina to race across the net and come to her aid, with medical assistance following soon afterwards.
Cornet’s reputation as a giant-killer made her showdown against Rybakina an intriguing one, although the latter got her quest to defend the Wimbledon title off to an ideal start by taking the first set 6-2.
The second was a more competitive affair, with Cornet and Rybakina embroiled in a seemingly never-ending game at 5-5 which went to deuce on no fewer than 12 occasions. As the game continued and the match entered its crucial moments, Cornet pushed off on her left foot only to lose grip on the grass surface.
Awkwardly twisting her right knee, the 33-year-old sunk to the ground face-down and sobbed into the turf. Rybakina wasted no time in dashing across the court to provide assistance before the match went to a medical timeout.
Cornet’s team patched her up and added more tape to her right leg, which was already covered in strapping, and to many’s surprise she got back to her feet and continued the second set.
Her chances of winning the contest soon slipped away, however, as Rybakina clinched the lengthy game that was halted by Cornet’s injury and ultimately prevailed in the second-set tiebreak to take the match 6-2 7-6.
“I’ve got nothing to lose. She’s clearly the defending champion for a reason. I’m going to have a swing and go for it. I’ve got a lot of tennis behind me. It’s time for me to test my skills against an incredible champion.
“I think I’m playing really well. I’ve played a lot of matches on the grass. I feel very comfortable. A lot of it is my self-belief. I’ve drawn from that in a lot of matches recently to help me get over the line. I definitely did that again today, as well as the British crowd.”
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