French Open champion Mirra Andreeva broke down in tears after she was knocked out of Wimbledon by Barbora Krejcikova.
Russian 19-year-old Andreeva had hurled her racquet in frustration and shouted “I quit” towards her team before making a hasty exit off court following her 4-6 7-5 6-4 defeat in a gruelling match of almost three hours.
Asked about her performance in a post-match news conference – held only minutes after her exit – she broke down in tears.
Asked how long it would take to recover from the loss, fifth seed Andreeva said she would “need a couple days”, before she choked up.
She took a moment before saying: “It’s going to take some time, maybe a couple of days, and then I’m going to be back to practise for hard courts.”
Andreeva’s emotions were in contrast to those of Krejcikova, who dedicated her thrilling win to her tennis-loving niece, who was stuck at home with chickenpox.
Krejcikova, who won the women’s singles title at Wimbledon in 2024, missed six match points at 5-3 up in the deciding set, but regained her composure to see out victory a game later.
“I believe my little niece was watching, and my nephew. She is also playing tennis and she loves it,” Krejcikova said.
“She’s actually sick – I think she has chickenpox. My nephew got it from kindergarten, so I hope my brother let her and my nephew watch this match.
“I hope she is going to be proud of me and hopefully I can give her some motivation for tennis and also for life.”
Krejcikova and Andreeva looked confused at one point when loud cheers rang around Centre Court when England beat DR Congo to reach the last 16 of the football World Cup.
Krejcikova has been plagued with injuries and dropped down the rankings since her triumph at the All England Club two years ago, while she suffered first-round exits at the Australian Open and Roland Garros this season.
“It’s definitely special. I have been through a lot with injuries and also in my personal life in the last couple months,” the world number 38 said.
“It was really hard to get through with the all the emotions of what has happened.”
