A tennis match in the women’s doubles tournament in Madrid almost ended tragically. One of its participants passed out right on the court and could not get to her feet for a long time. Surprisingly, she did not receive any sympathy from her rivals – on the contrary, the athlete was almost accused of stalling for time!
But the injury could really be serious.
In her best years she was the strongest guy
In the first round of the clay tournament in Madrid, Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin met with New Zealander Erin Routliffe and Ashlyn Kruger from the USA.
Mattek-Sands especially stood out among her rivals. The American tennis legend, who turned 39 in March, did not achieve much success in singles, but destroyed everyone in doubles and mixed doubles. She has Olympic gold in 2016 and five titles at Grand Slam tournaments. In her best years, Bethany was ranked number one in the WTA doubles rankings. Now she is not spectacular, but still continues to maintain a high level.
It was Mattek-Sands who suffered from a blow from her opponent in Madrid.
She lay there for several minutes
The incident occurred during the decisive tiebreaker. One of the plays ended with a powerful attack from Rutliff, after which the ball flew into the head of Mattek-Sands. The American fell on the court and could not get up.
They brought ice to the tennis player, she put it to her head, but continued to lie there. After a few minutes, Bethany stood up and walked toward the medical team, requesting a medical break. The American was checked for a concussion, but nothing serious was found.
After catching her breath and regaining her composure, Mattek-Sands returned to the court. As a result, the American pair won with a score of 7:6 (7:5), 5:7, 11:9.
shook hands with coldness
It would seem that the rivals should have shown understanding in this situation. But Rutliff showed completely different emotions. The New Zealander was outraged by… a medical break!
According to Essentially Sports, Rutliffe expressed her dissatisfaction immediately after the match. She believed that the long pause was taken not to check her health, but to throw her opponents off the rhythm. In addition, Mattek-Sands looked quite cheerful after the break and took the winning point for her pair, pulling out a difficult rally.
Dissatisfaction also manifested itself at the net. After the game, Erin and Bethany exchanged a very cold handshake, barely looking at each other.
It’s good that everything turned out okay
The fact that Mattek-Sands got hit hard in the episode was noted even by the fans. One tennis fan took a photo with Bethany and was glad that the athlete was not seriously injured.
“Thank God, Bethany Mattek-Sands is okay,” a fan with the nickname Tipsy Gutter Girl wrote on social networks.
For the American, this incident will definitely not be the worst in her career. In 2017, Bethany injured her knee while playing with Sorana Cirstei at Wimbledon. The American underwent surgery and was out for eight months. Due to the forced pause, she lost first place in the WTA doubles rankings.
But getting hit in the head by the ball can also be called an unpleasant incident. It’s good that everything worked out for Mattek-Sands.
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
Austrian tennis player Sebastian Ofner (ATP 131) suffered a disappointing defeat in the second round of the 2026 Australian Open qualifiers.
In the semi-finals of the selection, the Austrian player lost to the US representative in three sets Nisheshu Basavareddy (ATP 239) in 2 hours 32 minutes. Basavareddy took the victory over Ofner in the third set super tiebreaker.
Sebastian was ahead 7:1 in the super tiebreaker and started celebrating his victory after gaining a point. Sebastian started walking towards the goal and the referee told him the match wasn’t over yet.
As a result, Ofner lost 11:13 and missed two match points: one at 10:9 on the return, the other at 11:10 on serve.
Basavareddy will compete against George Loffagen (Great Britain, ATP 211) in the Australian Open qualifying final.
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On January 14, all second round matches in tough tournaments ended WTA 500 in Adelaide And WTA 250 in HobartIt will take place parallel to the Australian Open 2026 qualifying match (Melbourne).
In Adelaide, Dayana Yastremskaya’s felon Katerina Sinyakova lost to Diana Schneider in the second round.
The best moments of tennis matches LIVE on Telegram channel Tennis on Sport.ua
Second-seeded five-hundred Madison Keys knocked out Tereza Valentova, and eighth-seeded Victoria Mboko fought Anna Kalinskaya.
Victoria Mboko [8] – 🏳️ Anna Kalinskaya – 6:2, 3:6, 7:6 (8:6) Teresa Valentova – Madison Keys [2] – 4:6, 1:6
WTA 500 Adelaide. Quarter final matches
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🏳️Mirra Andreeva [3] – Ayla Tomljanovic [WC]
🏳️Diana Schneider [9] – Emma Navarro [6]
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Kimberly Birrell- Jacqueline Christian [Q] Victoria Mboko [8] – Madison Keys [2]
Video review of match day in Adelaide
In Hobart, top seed Emma Raducanu advanced to the quarter-finals without a fight – Magdalena French withdrew from her second round match.
Olga Danilovich, who defeated McCartney Kessler and advanced to the second place, also defeated Peyton Stearns in the 1/8 final.
Third-seeded Iva Jovic crushes her opponents: The young American first gave up just one game to Janice Tjen and then defeated Renata Sarasua with scores of 6:1, 6:2. Her next opponent will be Magda Linette.
WTA 250 Hobart. 1/8 final
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Emma Raducanu [1] – Magdalena French – WO., Raducanu Rebecca Shramkova – Talia Preston [WC] – 4:6, 1:6
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(Adelaide) Leylah Annie Fernandez and her Hungarian playing partner Timea Babos fell 7-6 (3), 6-7 (6) and 6-10 to the Czech Katerina Siniakova and the Chinese Zhang Shuai in the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Adelaide tennis tournament on Wednesday.
Fernandez and Babos bowed after a tight duel lasting one hour and 59 minutes in front of the second seeds of the doubles tournament.
Siniakova and Zhang will face Kazakh Anna Danilina and Serbian Aleksandra Krunic, fourth seeds in the doubles, in the final four.
The Quebecoise, 22e world racket, lost to Russian Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-3 in singles on Monday.
Furthermore, Ontario’s Victoria Mboko, eighth seed, will meet in the quarter-finals of the women’s singles with American Madison Keys, second seed, at the end of the evening.
Mboko is playing her first official WTA singles tournament in 2026, and her first since Hong Kong, which she won, in November 2025.
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Maria Bouzkova [LL] – 6:3, 6:1
