John McEnroe discharged as a dejected Wimbledon star who couldn’t bring himself to leave court after brutally sabotaging himself.
There were devastating scenes at Wimbledon on Thursday morning when Alejandro Davidovich Fokina suffered a controversial departure at the hands of Jiri Vesely.
Facing the match point in the tiebreak of the last set at the end of a marathon match, Davidovich Fokina lost his cool and hit a ball off the field, then got a point from umpire Carlos Ramos and lost the tie 3-6 7-5 7 -6 3-6 6-7.
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“I do not agree with it. That’s insane… what a bad way to end it,” American tennis player John McEnroe told ESPN.
Davidovich Fokina had previously received a code violation for an audible obscenity. According to tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg, the Spaniard thought that because hitting a ball was a different violation, the two violations were not “cumulative”.
That’s not how the chair umpire saw it, though, and because of the previous offense, Ramos had no choice but to inflict a penalty point at the end, costing Davidovich Fokina the game.
Tennis commentators were stunned. An image of a dejected Davidovich Fokina still sitting in his seat after the game ended when his opponent had left the field summed up the mood.
Elsewhere, three of the top 10 women’s seeds crashed, Novak Djokovic defeated Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis while Andy Murray suffered his earliest ever defeat at Wimbledon, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 by John Isner in the second round.
The British two-time champion, 35, struggled to tame the giant American’s serve but failed to break once in the match on Center Court.
“I am certainly not a better tennis player than Andy Murray. I may have been a little better than him today,” said Isner.
Casper Ruud, third seed and second at the French Open, who would face Djokovic in the semifinals, was eliminated by Ugo Humbert in 112th place 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.
But Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz stayed on track to meet the six-time champions at the last eight by reaching the third round for the first time.
The 19-year-old Alcaraz triumphed against the Dutch Tallon Greek track 6-4, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3.
The flamboyant Spanish shotmaker will take on Germany’s Oscar Otte for a place in the last 16.
Otte needed just 15 minutes to reach the third round when American opponent Christian Harrison was injured 3-1 in their second round draw.
In the women’s tournament, second seed Anett Kontaveit, ninth seed and former champion Garbine Muguruza, as well as 10th seeded US Open winner Emma Raducanu all went out.
Kontaveit lost 6-4, 6-0 to Julie Niemeier of Germany, while the Estonian had to endure another Grand Slam to quickly forget.
Kontaveit has made it to the quarterfinals of a major only once in 29 attempts. Muguruza, the champion of 2017, lost her postponed first-round clash 6-4, 6-0 to Belgian Greet Minnen.
Raducanu, who went on to become Great Britain’s first female champion in 45 years with the All England Club, was defeated 6-3 6-3 by France’s 55th-ranked Caroline Garcia†
“I really enjoyed playing at Center Court, it was my first time and very special,” said Garcia, who shot 25 winners past the British teenager.
There were no such dramas for Ons Jabeur as third seed or Maria Sakkari, who was seeded fifth, who advanced to the last 32 in two sets.
Lesia Tsurenko came out on top in three sets against Ukrainian compatriot Anhelina Kalinina to reach the third round for the second time.
Tsurenko, ranked 101, proudly wore a ribbon in the colors of Ukraine on her shirt.
“It was a big court. Two Ukrainian players, but a lot of people looked at us. We felt great support,” Tsurenko said after her 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
“Today we got a driver on the way from the hotel to the club,” she added. “She has taken two people from Ukraine into her house.
“I love it when people help Ukrainians so much.”
Originally published as ‘On my God’: Foolish Wimbledon star kicked out of tournament after rogue act
