Venus Williams lost to Elina Svitolina in the Wimbledon first round after getting injured due to a nasty tumble. While playing on the Centre Court grass, the 43-year-old slipped and fell to the ground in agony.
After losing the game to her Ukrainian opponent, the five-time champion said that the grass was inherently slippery and it was just bad luck that she fell. “Grass is inherently going to be slippery,” she remarked.
“You’re going to fall at some point. It was just bad luck for me. I started the match perfectly. I was literally killing it, then I got killed by the grass. It’s not fun right now. I felt like I was in great form coming into this tournament, and great form in the match. It’s all very shocking at the moment. This is sports," said Williams.
The 28-year-old who recently gave birth to a baby girl in October, defeated the American star by 6-3 in the first set. Venus was given a standing ovation even after losing the first game at the 2023 grand slam.Moving on to the second round.@ElinaSvitolina beats five-time champion Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-3#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/0JXnOuFxFX
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2023
Scary moment at Wimbledon.
Venus Williams slips & falls to the ground.She screams in pain.Elina Svitolina brought her a towel & Venus is being seen by the physio.This is so hard to watch. Venus has worked so hard to get healthy just to have the chance to play. pic.twitter.com/QPZqfldGmp— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 3, 2023
The Ukrainian player Svitolina also praised the spirit of the game that Venus had shown even after her fall. “She tried, and the champion she is, she fought, she gave her everything,” she remarked.
First Published: Jul 4, 2023 5:35 PM IST
Check out our in-depth Market Coverage, Business News & get real-time Stock Market Updates on CNBC-TV18. Also, Watch our channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar Live on-the-go!
EVM row: Meet Ravindra Waikar, Shiv Sena MP at the centre of controversy
Jun 17, 2024 1:26 PM
EVM unlocking controversy in Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat — What we know so far
Jun 17, 2024 10:25 AM