Wimbledon ace slide tackles line decide and is left in agony as play suspended
Gael Monfils nearly knocked over a line judge at Wimbledon during his straight-sets loss to Grigor Dimitrov.
The French tennis ace, battling an injury in the third set, made a valiant effort to chase down a forehand winner from Dimitrov. In a heart-stopping moment, he lost his footing and careened into a line judge who had just shouted “out” on Monfils’ shot.
The official managed to stay upright, but Monfils wasn’t so lucky, hitting the deck hard. The 37 year old, plagued by injuries for much of the past two years, needed on-court attention as he writhed in pain clutching his left knee.
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Monfils then received extensive treatment in his court-side chair before resuming play, reports the Express. Despite his determination, he couldn’t secure another game and was defeated 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
Post-match, Monfils reflected on the incident: “I slipped. It was unfortunate. I tried to not hurt the lines umpire. The only thing it was tough is I had to put my wrist just, of course, to stop a little bit.”
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“Then is the only thing, I think I hurt a little bit my wrist, but the rest I was a bit worried about my knee, but the knee was fine. More wrist was the little issue.” After a tough time with injuries, Monfils stayed upbeat about making it to the third round.
“It was for me great to be back at Wimbledon after three years. I have two great matches, and today a good experience again,” he detailed.
“So, you know, it was a week with joy, and still, you know, some stuff to keep working on. So it’s a week under the belt. Hopefully I can keep the good side of this week for the coming up.”
