Jasmine Paolini shows true colours after Madison Keys retired in tears at Wimbledon
Jasmine Paolini spoke after her Wimbledon opponent Madison Keys was forced to retire.
Jasmine Paolini showed a touch of class when her Wimbledon third-round opponent Madison Keys was forced to retire through injury while serving for the match.
American star Keys led 5-4 in the deciding set but was forced to call a medical time-out when serving for a place in the quarter-finals for the second time on Court 1.
She left the court and returned seven minutes later with heavy strapping on her thigh, but was clearly uncomfortable and needed to retire, leaving the grass in tears after Keys had drawn level.
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The world No. 7, who reached the quarter-finals at SW19 for the first time in her career, immediately ran over to Keys when her retirement was announced and gave her a big hug.
Instead of celebrating her spot against either Emma Navarro or Coco Gauff in the next round, Paolini joined in with the crowd to applaud her opponent off the court before apologising for the manner in which she claimed victory.
“Now I am so sorry for her, to end the match like this is bad," the Italian said in her on-court interview. "What can I say? I think we played a really good match, was really tough, lots of up and downs. I am feeling a little bit happy but also sad for her because it’s not easy to win like that but I hope you enjoyed the match.
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“It was really close, I started really well but she had great tennis, she’s a great competitor, she raised her level and it was tough to return balls because they were really fast but I was repeating to myself that you never know in tennis and at the end, somehow she retired but I am here with the win.
“I hope so (becoming a crowd favourite) I love this court, thank you very much for the support, thank you for all the Italians that are here, there are so many, I am enjoying a lot.”
Keys had made the quarter-finals twice before at Wimbledon in 2015 and 2023 and with a wide-open draw thanks to Iga Swiatek's defeat and Aryna Sabalenka's withdrawal, would have felt well-placed for a first Major victory after being on the verge of sealing a spot in the final eight.