Injuries keep stealing the show in Melbourne
MELBOURNE, Australia – A trio of strange events have halted matches so far this week in Melbourne.
The first night, the marquee match on Hisense Arena was delayed when a fan suffered a stroke in the stands.
On Day Three, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stopped his match when he noticed a ballgirl fighting off tears. Stopping to ask her what was wrong, he learned that she’d been hit in the face with the ball. He helped her off the court.
“At the start I thought she was normal … but after the second time I saw she was in trouble and I went to help her to get out because she was in a bad state,” Tsonga said. “She was in trouble. Her eyes were a little bit teary. So it was just normal to help her to go out of the stadium and I hope she’s doing well now.
On Thursday, a woman had to be carried out of Rod Laver Arena on a stretcher after falling down the stairs during Ana Ivanovic’s match. The match was delayed briefly as first-aid treated the woman.
“I felt really bad. I was really shaking, because the sound of the lady falling was really loud. I could hear it. I stopped immediately,” Ivanovic said after completing the 6-3, 6-3 win. “I just hope the lady was fine. It was actually good that we had to wait a little bit because I was really shaking, because I could imagine and it was not so nice. Then they told us she was bleeding, so, yeah, I hope she’s well.”
