01 October,2020 07:28 AM IST | Paris | AFP
Kiki Bertens is carried off in a wheelchair after her Round 2 win over Sara Errani in Paris yesterday. pic/Getty Images
Dutch fifth seed Kiki Bertens was accused of faking injury as she was taken off court in a wheelchair after a stormy Roland Garros second round win over former finalist Sara Errani on Wednesday. Bertens triumphed 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 9-7 in a three-hour 11-minute clash which left her in cramps and Italian Errani screaming an obscenity. Errani had a match point but was also handed a time violation for taking too long to serve. At one stage, she served underarm.
For 2016 semi-finalist Bertens, who needed the wheelchair after cramping left her unable to move, it was a first win in six meetings with the Italian. Errani stormed off court, refusing to racquet tap with Bertens before screaming va fanculo as she stomped off Court 14. "After one hour, she's injured but then she's running around like never before," said Errani. "She leaves the court in a chair and now she's in the locker room and eating in the restaurant, perfect. She exaggerated. It made me very angry, so well done to her but she can win without doing that."
Meanwhile, Serena Williams withdrew from the French Open ahead of her second round match with an Achilles injury. Serena, 39, had arrived in Paris carrying the injury that prompted her to skip the Rome event. "The Achilles didn't have enough time to heal after the US Open," said Serena. "I'm struggling to walk, so that's kind of a telltale sign that I should try to recover. I need four to six weeks of sitting and doing nothing," she added.
Earlier, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina said she thought something bad had happened when a French fighter jet flew over Roland Garros on Wednesday, breaking the sound barrier.
The military said the jet had been scrambled to go to the aid of another aircraft that had lost radio contact, and was authorised to travel at supersonic speed. "Yeah, I heard it. I was a bit worried because I thought something bad happened," said Svitolina after defeating Mexico's Renata Zarazua 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.
Later in the day, top seed Simona Halep advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu.
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