Barbora Krejcikova’s Wimbledon title defence came to a tearful end when she ran out of energy “out of nowhere” in a three-set defeat by American 10th seed Emma Navarro in the third round.
The Czech, who had come into the tournament after an injury scare, had seemed to be in control of the match but became increasingly distressed after being taken to a third set in a 2-6 6-3 6-4 defeat.
“First of all, I thought that it was the food, that I ate too early,” she said. “That’s why I started with all the bananas and all the sugars and stuff inside. But I wasn’t really feeling better, I was actually feeling worse and worse with with the time on court.
“It’s very sad for me and very unfortunate.”
Krejcikova bent over several times behind the baseline at the end of points and had the trainer on midway through the third set to have her blood pressure taken.
When she was one game from defeat, the 29-year-old leaned against the screen at the back of the court and cried.
Wiping away tears as she held serve to stay in the match, the end came in the following game when she netted as 24-year-old Navarro booked a fourth-round meeting with 18-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva, who is the seventh seed.
Krejcikova had only played six matches in an injury-hit season and had pulled out of her Eastbourne quarter-final last month with a thigh injury.