Injured Bertens leaves court in wheelchair, beats Errani

Bertens won 7-6(5) 3-6 9-7 in a claycourt duel lasting more than three hours but her prospects of continuing look bleak after she left the court in a wheelchair.

Published : Sep 30, 2020 19:52 IST , PARIS

Kiki Bertens plays a shot against Sara Errani during the French Open.
Kiki Bertens plays a shot against Sara Errani during the French Open.
lightbox-info

Kiki Bertens plays a shot against Sara Errani during the French Open.

Fifth seed Kiki Bertens narrowly avoided joining the exodus of French Open women's favourites as she survived a match point and cramps against former runner-up Sara Errani before hobbling into the third round on Wednesday.

Bertens eventually won 7-6(5), 3-6, 9-7 in a claycourt duel lasting more than three hours but she left the court in a wheelchair after struggling physically in the final set.

The 28-year-old said she had suffered a full-body cramp when she got back to her chair after the match and needed 45 minutes of treatment in the locker room.

The 33-year-old Errani, who came through qualifying to start her first Grand Slam for two years after a doping ban, served for the match three times.

She tried every trick in her arsenal including some dinked underarm serves on occasions but Bertens stood firm despite appearing on the verge of collapse on occasions.

Errani's serve is one of the weakest on Tour and it failed her at 5-4, 6-5 and 7-6 as she became increasingly vociferous, repeatedly yelling 'vamos' after points.

At 6-5, she brought up a match point with a killer drop shot but Bertens saved it with an angled forehand winner.

Bertens summoned all her energy to eventually hold serve to lead 8-7 in the decider and had triple match point in the next game, only for Errani to save them all.

However, Bertens got another opportunity and this time scrambled over the line to post her only victory over Errani in six attempts. The orange-clad Bertens collapsed onto the clay, shaking with emotion, as 2012 runner-up Errani stalked off without acknowledging her opponent.

Bertens reached the semifinal in 2016 but is short of match play coming into Roland Garros having failed to win a match since the Tour resumed after the COVID-19 shutdown.

She retired injured in Strasbourg last week.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment