Madison Keys’ Wimbledon streak came to a brutal end on Sunday.
Keys, despite being so close to reaching the quarter-finals, had to leave the court early with tears in her eyes.
Keys retired late in the third set of her fourth-round battle with Italian Jasmine Paolini on Sunday afternoon in England due to a horrific leg injury sustained in the final games of their match.
The victory officially sent Paolini, who finished second at the French Open, into the quarterfinals.
“I feel very sorry for her. Ending the match like that is bad,” Paolini said in her on-court interview. “What can I say? We played a really good match. It was very difficult. There were a lot of ups and downs. I feel a little bit happy, but also sad for her. It’s not easy to win like that.”
After Paolini took a big 6-3 win in the first set, Keys came back strong and forced a third set with a 7-6 (6) win in the second. She was there in the third set as well and came very close to winning.
Keys served out the match 5-2 in the final set, but Paolini rallied as Keys’ leg began to bother her more and more. After Paolini cut the deficit to 5-4, Keys had to stop to receive medical attention to have work done on her leg.
Keys double-faulted on break point, tying the set at 5-5. After Paolini hit an ace in the next game, as Keys struggled to advance, she equalized.
Paolini, 28, came into Wimbledon as the No. 3 seed after her incredible performance at the French Open. However, Iga Swiatek easily won in straight sets at Rolland Garros and took her third consecutive title at the event. Paolini, who has won twice in her career, will now face either Coco Gauff or Emma Navarro in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. If Paolini can win that match, she would be the first Italian woman to reach the semifinals.
Keys, who has eight singles titles to her name, was seeking her second consecutive quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon this summer. She has reached the final of a Grand Slam only once in her career, in 2017, when she fell to Sloane Stephens at the US Open in New York.