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There was an unfortunate end to the women’s second round match on Margaret Court Arena today, with France’s Harmony Tan taken from the court in a wheelchair.
The 24-year-old was down 1-5 in the final set against 15 seed Elina Svitolina, but was unable to finish after injuring her calf.
Tan desperately tried to fight through it, but to no avail, as the chair umpire advised she retire from the match.
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After taking the opening set the Ukrainian struggled to serve out the second. She later regained her forehand power and control over the match as Tan began to struggle.
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Svitolina will advance to a third round match-up with two-time champion Victoria Azarenka on Friday due to the walkover, with the star leading the match 6-3 5-7 5-1 when Tan chose to end it prematurely.
After controversy earlier in the week concerning Dayana Yastremska and her suspected planned retirement, some viewers were sceptical of the motive behind Tan’s retirement, questioning if she was really injured or had retired so late in the match in an act of pettiness.
However, others were quick to come to Tan’s aid, praising her bravery and persistence through injury.
“It’s always horrible for any athlete to get injured in the competition, and hopefully Harmony can recover and get back soon on the court,” Svitolina said after the match.
“She played really well – it took me a little bit of time to come back into the match.”
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