Kerber wins, Pliskova bounced; Mattek-Sands injured at Wimbledon

Top-seeded Angelique Kerber advanced, and third-seeded Karolina Pliskova saw her bid to win her first major title at Wimbledon and capture the No. 1 ranking in women’s tennis dashed on Thursday. But much of the attention was on American wild-card Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who sustained a gruesome knee injury during second-round action at the All England Club in London.

Kerber, seeking her first tournament title since winning the U.S. Open last September, rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the first set to beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 7-5, 7-5.

Kerber’s next opponent will be Shelby Rogers of the United States, who upset 32nd-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3.

Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia rebounded from dropping the first set to post a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Pliskova in two hours, 17 minutes.

“I’m speechless. It’s an amazing feeling right now,” said Rybarikova, who reached the third round for the second time in 10 appearances at the All England Club.

The victory was an admittedly sweet one for Rybarikova, who had been sidelined for much of last year following wrist and knee surgeries.

“I had two surgeries and haven’t played for seven months. I’ve just beaten Karolina Pliskova. That is absolutely amazing,” Rybarikova said.

Rybarikova recorded 33 winners — including 12 in the final set alone — to dispatch Pliskova. The 25-year-old Czech, who was a runner-up at the U.S. Open last year, was attempting to overtake the No. 1 ranking from Angelique Kerber.

While Rybarikova continues in the tournament to face Lesia Tsurenko of the Ukraine, Mattek-Sands was not as fortunate after she was forced her to retire from her match and was in need of a stretcher to be removed from the court.

Mattek-Sands sustained a right knee injury during a point in the opening game of the third set against Sorana Cirstea of Romania. Mattek-Sands slipped and fell as she approached the net before immediately clutching her knee and screaming in pain.

When Cristea, the first person to get to Mattek-Sands, caught a glimpse of the injury, she recoiled in horror and immediately motioned for help.

“I went over and saw her knee out and turned around and told them to bring a stretcher because I think everyone froze,” Cristea told the London Mirror. “It was heartbreaking because she went into shock and it took a while until the medical team was there.

“Her knee was in a very weird position. I have never seen anything like this except in the movies. I panicked a little bit as well and called for help but no one was coming and I tried to comfort here as much as I could but you could feel the pain.”

Mattek-Sands, 32, continued to scream in pain for 15 minutes as the crowd remained silent, and she pleaded for more painkillers. She was on the court for about 25 minutes before she was lifted onto a cart and taken to a hospital.

Cirstea was credited with the win, 4-6, 7-6 (4).

Also, fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki eliminated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-4. Next she will face Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, who got past Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-2.

Garbine Muguruza of Spain, the 14th seed who won the French Open in 2016 and was a Wimbledon finalist in 2015, never lost serve as she defeated Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.

Seventh-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced to the third round at Wimbledon for the ninth time with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over countrywoman Ekaterina Makarova.

Kuznetsova, who is a two-time major champion, needed just 24 minutes to win the first set before ultimately improving to 6-1 in her career versus Makarova.

The 32-year-old Kuznetsova stumbled in the second set with a double fault, with Makarova taking that opportunity to briefly work herself back into the match.

Kuznetsova advances to face Slovenian qualifier Polona Hercog, who rebounded from dropping the first set to post a 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-2 win over American Varvara Lepchenko.

Ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland lost the first set before recording a 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-3 win over American Christina Hale.

American Alison Riske scored an impressive upset with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over 12th-seeded Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic. Riske benefited from 34 unforced errors by Mladenovic to advance to face No. 24 CoCo Vandeweghe of the United States, who secured a 6-4, 6-2 victory over German Tatjana Maria.

Also on Thursday, Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas posted a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Australian Arina Rodionova, Croatia’s Petra Martic cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 over Czech Denisa Allertova and Tsurenko recorded a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 triumph over Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.