Wimbledon: Sorana Cirstea qualifies to third round

Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea (27, 63rd WTA) has qualified to the third round of the Wimbledon tournament, as Bethanie Mattek-Sands abandoned the match in the third set at 4-6, 7-6 (4), 40-15.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (32, 103rd WTA) abandoned due to an injury, after one hour and 53 minutes.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a 32-year-old American who came to Wimbledon eyeing a fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title, fell to the grass when her right knee buckled as she moved toward the net in a second-round singles match Thursday.

She immediately clutched her knee and, down on the turf, wailed loudly, imploring for someone to “Help me! Help me!”

Sorana Cirstea, immediately climbed over the net to check on Mattek-Sands, who after about 20 minutes was removed from Court 17 on a stretcher and taken to a hospital.

“Her knee was in a very weird position. I’ve never seen anything like this, probably, except in the movies. And, yeah, I panicked a little bit, as well,” Cirstea said. “Then I called for help, but no one was coming. Then tried to comfort her as much as I could. But, I mean, you could feel the pain.”

Cîrstea has four wins in all matches with the American player, the previous being in 2013, when Sorana won 6-1, 6-3 in the first round in Pattaya.

Cîrstea secured a checque of GBP 90,000 and 130 WTA points, and will play against Garbine Muguruza (Spain) in the next round.