There were tears on No.2 Court as teenager Ana Konjuh's hopes of upsetting No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska were ruined in heartbreaking fashion by a freak injury late in the match.
Radwanska dug deep to rescue herself, saving three match points, to win 6-2, 4-6, 9-7 as the Croat turned her ankle chasing a drop shot in the penultimate game of this second round clash.
With Radwanska serving at 7-7 Konjuh hared forward. Her racket missed the ball and, as she applied the brakes, she stood on the ball, turning her right ankle and bursting into tears as she lay on the court.
A medical time-out followed as the trainer mummified the joint, but Konjuh was immobile. The tears fell once more as her final service game slipped away.
Hope you are ok @anakonjuh You played a great match.
— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska) July 1, 2016
On the day the ladies’ singles seeds scattered, Radwanska took the positives from her fortunate escape.
“If you see players who won a Grand Slam, they always have something like this on the way,” said the world No.3. “Sometimes it's a little bit easier to play after when you know that you probably shouldn't even be here any more.
“Let's see. But definitely those kind of matches are tough. If you can come back, it's great. But I don't know if anything changes in the way to the second week. So we'll see.”
The two-time semi-finalist played a near-perfect first set, making just one unforced error in the opener against the explosive youngster, who made 19 in reply, but was found wanting when Konjuh’s dangerous drives began finding their mark as the match wore on.
The world No.103 punished Radwanska’s second unforced error, which brought up break point in game six of the second set, and after clinching the lead, the 18-year-old didn’t look back.
Playing in a long-sleeved top out on No.2 Court, Konjuh was happy to engage in Radwanska’s cat-and-mouse rallies while still going for her shots; while she gave up 52 errors in the match, she also outgunned Radwanska 45 winners to 28.
A delightful lob helped Konjuh bring up set point at 3-5, but Radwanska earned herself a reprieve, saving another in the next game before Konjuh gave up a third with a double-fault. A service winner at the fifth time of asking sent the match into a decider.
Konjuh, who reached the third round as a qualifier in 2014, had arrived at Wimbledon under an injury cloud after retiring in Nottingham with a back problem, and once more in Eastbourne, this time with pain in her neck.
But she showed no ill effects against Radwanska, breaking early in the final set. There may be 100 places between them in the rankings but on court the gulf only showed with the big points on the line, with Konjuh battling her nerves and Radwanska digging in, the Pole saving a match point on serve at 5-3.
A second match point came and went in the next game, and a third – Konjuh’s forehand dancing tantalisingly along the net cord before dropping back on her side of the net. As the teen tightened up Radwanska hit back, levelling up at 5-5. Konjuh rallied to break back immediately, but once again clammed up on serve. Then came the fall.
Up next for Radwanska is 20-year-old Katerina Siniakova, who stunned French No.30 seed Caroline Garcia in three sets on Thursday. It is the second meeting between Radwanska and the Czech, who lost in straight sets when the pair met in the first round at last year’s US Open.