WIMBLEDON — Madison Keys left No 1 Court in tears after injury forced her to withdraw from her Wimbledon fourth-round match with Jasmine Paolini at a crucial stage of the third set.
Keys, 29, had been serving for the match at 5-2 up, and when break point down after deuce she appeared to suffer a hamstring injury.
The American, a 2017 US Open runner-up, attempted to play through the pain, but was visibly emotional after being broken by the No 7 seed.
Keys then received treatment off-court and eventually retired after being broken again in the ninth game of the decider.
“I’m so sorry for her,” Paolini said. “To end a match like this, it’s bad. I think we played a really good match. It was really tough, a lot of up and downs. I’m feeling a little bit happy but also sad for her because it’s not easy to win like that.”
Keys impressively fought her way back into contention against Paolini as she looked to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for a third time, having done so 2015 and 2023.
From 4-0 down in the first set, Keys recovered from losing the opener 6-3 by forcing a decider when winning the second-set tie-break 8-6.
Keys, who missed the Australian Open this year due to a shoulder injury, took that momentum with her into the final set.
The No 12 seed broke twice to move 5-2 up, where she then saved a break point from Paolini to take the game to deuce and move within two points of victory.
Again thought Paolini had a chance to break, and it was when looking to put away a forehand where Keys suffered the match-changing injury.
The forehand itself went just wide of the line, allowing Paolini to make it 5-3, while Keys was bent over before visibly limping before starting the next game.
She persevered, going for broke with big shots to keep points short, but it looked clear she would struggle to complete the match.
After receiving medical treatment, Keys briefly left No 1 Court, making for a delay of almost 10 minutes before the next game was played.
Serving for the match at 5-4 up, Keys was fighting back the tears, but was broken to 30. After the first point on Paolini’s serve, Keys then walked towards the net to signal the match was over, with her opponent going around the net to give her a consolation hug.
It was not the way Paoloni would have wanted to advance, but in doing so she reaches the quarter-final at Wimbledon for the first time.
Paolini lost the French Open final to Iga Swiatek last month, and had not previously won a match at Wimbledon until this year.
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