Two-time champion Petra Kvitova said she had burnt herself out waiting around to get on court after she crashed out of Wimbledon on Saturday in the last second round match to be completed.
The Czech, who won the title in 2011 and 2014, was left hanging about over six days due to continual rain delays, spending just two hours and 46 minutes on court in that time.
In an error-strewn match, she lost 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) on Saturday to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova, who will face Barbora Strycova for a place in the last 16.
"It's very weird, I have to say. I felt like I was stuck in the second round," said Kvitova.
"I was waiting all day long almost every day to be scheduled on, and didn't really have a chance to finish or step on the court. So it was really weird.
"It's when you are still waiting and your nerves are still going, it's always a little bit difficult with energy and everything. You just have to focus all day, which then maybe when you step on the court, you don't really have the energy afterwards."
While Venus Williams and Carla Suarez Navarro secured their places in the fourth round on Friday, Kvitova was left twiddling her thumbs and listening to music.
"It's weird when you're sitting in the locker room and someone finishes the third round, like Carla Suarez Navarro, and I was still waiting for my second," she said.
"We were just making a laugh of it. What we can do, right, in the locker room? It is how it is. I wish I should be scheduled a little bit better, but it's in the past now.
"I was waiting in the Court Two, just lying down, have my iPod on. That's what I can do: nothing."
Halep defies heel problem
World number five Simona Halep made it through to the Wimbledon fourth round with a straightforward victory over Kiki Bertens on Centre Court on Saturday, despite a lingering Achilles problem.
The 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win over the Dutch world number 28, watched by a wealth of British sports stars including members of England's 1966 football World Cup-winning team.
She faces either ninth seed Madison Keys or Alize Cornet in the round of 16 on Monday.
Halep did not play a grasscourt warm-up tournament before Wimbledon due to a tendon injury.
"I'm fit now but some days I have pain again. I don't know what is going on with my Achilles," she said.
The 24-year-old said she would not be going to watch Keys face Cornet to get some inside information ahead of Monday's match.
"I'm not doing that job, my coach does," she said.
The Czech 10th seed, with 43 unforced errors, lost 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.
Radwanska, Kerber progress
Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2012 runner-up, enjoyed a 6-3, 6-1 win over Katerina Siniakova and next plays Dominika Cibulkova, the 19th seed from Slovakia.
German fourth seed and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber also reached the last-16 with a 7-6 (13/11), 6-1 win over compatriot Carian Witthoeft.
A semi-finalist in 2012, Kerber will next face Japan's Misaki Doi.
Comments
SHARE