MARIA SHARAPOVA last night slammed Wimbledon’s courts as “dangerous” after a day of extraordinary injury carnage saw seven players forced out of the Championships.
Maria Sharapova falls during her defeat by Michelle Larcher
Maria Sharapova falls during her defeat by Michelle Larcher
The No 3 seed lost 6-3, 6-4 to Michelle Larcher De Brito after falling three times and going off for treatment. She appeared to mouth to umpire Alison Hughes: “This court is dangerous.”
Following her defeat, she said: “After I buckled my knee three times, that was my reaction. I don’t think I’ve ever fallen three times in a match. I saw a lot of players fall. The court was slippery.
“In the first couple of days they are always like that, but I don’t think I’ve seen as much. I’m not sure what they need to do. I’m not a groundsman.”
Earlier, Victoria Azarenka had already called on Wimbledon to sort out their courts after she had been forced to pull out of her match with a knee injury sustained during the first round.
The Belarussian was only one of an unlucky seven to be forced to withdraw or retire – believed to be a record for a single day of a Grand Slam event during the open era.
“The court was not in a very good condition,” said No 2 seed Sharapova. “My opponent fell twice, I fell badly – there were other people who fell.
“It would be great if the club would examine the issue. The court was slippery.”
The injury mayhem cast a strange mood over the whole of Wimbledon as news of each big-name casualty filtered through.
By the time Sharapova made her long, sombre walk from Court 2 to the locker rooms underneath Centre bore, the atmosphere was akin to that of a wake.
Head bowed, she trudged between five security guards along a guard of honour that stretched away from Court 2 and under the cantilever of Court 3. Those long limbs stretched languidly to climb the steep steps that lead to the inner sanctum two at a time with no sign of any medical problems. To be honest, it was the most sure-footed she had been all day.
There were a few shouts of, “We love you Maria!” but most fans were nervously silent, at a loss how to react. It had been that sort of afternoon.
The best of the action outside of Roger Federer’s late defeat yesterday had undoubtedly taken place out on Court 2.
