alien Jasmine Paolini is into the Wimbledon quarter-finals after a tearful Madison Keys retired with an injury in the deciding set.
The American, 29, was forced to stop with the score locked at 6-3, 6-7 (6-8) 5-5 on Court One.
Keys appeared to pick up the injury when she hit a forehand while serving for victory at 5-2 in the final set.
She took a medical timeout at the change of ends when leading 5-4 and was treated before leaving the court.
Paolini, 28, broke the serve of Keys again to level at 5-5 before Keys decided she could no longer continue.
“Right now, I’m so sorry for her,” said Paolini. “To end the match like this is bad. What can I say?
“I think we played a really good match. It was tough. Lots of ups and downs. I’m feeling a bit happy but also sad for her. It’s not easy to win like that.”
French Open finalist Paolini had never won a match in the Wimbledon main draw before this year’s tournament.
After winning the first set, she trailed in the second 5-1 but rallied brilliantly to force a tie-break – which Keys eventually took on her fourth set point.
Keys established a big lead again in the decider before her injury.
Paolini will play the winner of the all-American meeting between Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro in the last eight.
Leave a Reply