The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Mattek-Sands exits after scary knee injury
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a 32-year-old American who came to Wimbledon eyeing a fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title, exited Thursday after suffering a painful knee injury.
LONDON » The screams were startling.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a 32-year-old American who came to Wimbledon eyeing a fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title, fell to the grass when her right knee buckled as she moved toward the net in a secondround singles match Thursday.
She immediately clutched her knee and, down on the turf, wailed loudly, imploring for someone to “Help me! Help me!”
Her opponent, Sorana Cirstea, immediately climbed over the net to check on Mattek-Sands, who after about 20 minutes was removed from Court 17 on a stretcher and taken to a hospital.
“Her knee was in a very weird position. I’ve never seen anything like this, probably, except in the movies. And, yeah, I panicked a little bit, as well,” Cirstea said. “Then I called for help, but no one was coming. Then tried to comfort her as much as I could. But, I mean, you could feel the pain.”
The extent of MattekSands’ injury, which came in the third set’s opening game, was not immediately known. But word quickly spread around the grounds, generating concern among players. She’s popular on tour, known for her gregarious personality, loud laugh and original fashion choices, including the stars-and-stripes kneehigh socks she wore while teaming with Jack Sock to win a mixed-doubles gold medal for the U.S. at last year’s Rio Olympics.
“It’s the peak of her career right now,” said Bob Bryan, whose twin brother Mike won the 2015 French Open mixed-doubles title with Mattek-Sands. “She’s a fun-loving girl. She doesn’t have any enemies in the locker room.”
She’s also quite a doubles player, ranked No. 1 right now after teaming with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic to win the past three major championships and a total of five. Safarova heard about MattekSands on TV and ran to her court, then stood nearby and wiped away tears as she saw her friend and playing partner in distress.
“Just terrible what happened. Obviously, I’m very sad for her. Doesn’t matter about whatever goals we had,” Safarova said, her voice barely above a whisper, after losing her singles match to Shelby Rogers of the U.S. in three sets. “It’s just about her being healthy.”
Djokovic stays calm
Try as they might, the reporters grilling Novak Djokovic couldn’t get the three-time Wimbledon champion to criticize John McEnroe for comparing him to Tiger Woods.
McEnroe, himself a three-time champion at the All England Club, said on the BBC that Djokovic was “distracted” and the person who comes to mind in similar circumstances “is not a tennis player, it’s actually a golfer: Tiger Woods.”
Djokovic was asked about those comments several times at Wimbledon on Thursday after reaching the third round. He beat Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.
“I really don’t take anything personal. I always got along very well with John,” Djokovic said. “You know, I guess whether that’s his opinion or criticism or something else, I’m not really sure. But in the end of the day, I respect everything he says.”
Woods won 14 major golf titles but has not won since divorcing his wife. He said last month he was receiving professional help “to manage my medications.” That came a few weeks after he was charged with driving under the influence after police in Florida found him asleep at the wheel of his car at about 2 a.m.
McEnroe said: “Woods had the issues with his wife and then he seemed to go completely off the rails and has never been even close to being the same player.”