Wimbledon defends court conditions after Mattek-Sands injury

Wimbledon officials dismissed growing concerns over the state of the All England Club courts yesterday despite baselines on some surfaces already stripped of grass after just four days of the Grand Slam event

USâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Bethanie Mattek-Sands receives treatment after suffering an injury on Thursday. Pic/AFP

Wimbledon officials dismissed growing concerns over the state of the All England Club courts yesterday despite baselines on some surfaces already stripped of grass after just four days of the Grand Slam event.

The Court 18, where John Isner and Nicolas Mahut famously played out their three-day match in 2010, has come in for the fiercest criticism. On Court 17, meanwhile on Thursday, American star Bethanie Mattek-Sands suffered a horrific right knee injury after her leg buckled. It was not clear, however, whether the state of the surface was a contributing factor in not certain.

"The court preparation has been to exactly the same meticulous standard as in previous years," said the All England Club.

"Grass is a natural surface and it is usual for the baselines to start to be showing signs of wear and tear four days into the championships."

French Kristina Mladenovic said there was a hole on Court 18. "The colour of the court, the fact that there's no more grass, the fact that the baseline where we are running, it's very slippery. There's no grass. I don't know how to describe it. It's not even clay," said Mladenovic.

Bethanie undergoes more tests on knee
Bethanie Mattek-Sands underwent more tests on her right knee yesterday following her injury on Thursday. "Bethanie is undergoing more scans," said the WTA Tour in a statement. "Bethanie thanks everyone for their kind wishes and messages of support," the statement added.

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