Ankle injury halts Golovin’s sensational comeback
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Mar 30, 2006 | Print | Email | Bookmark | Free Subscription
France’s Tatiana Golovin will probably regard tonight’s match as the worst twist of fate that she has experienced so far on court. Ranked at 24 in the world, she was poised to score one of the biggest upsets of her career, when she turned her left ankle at 3-6, 7-6 (5), 3-4 in tonight’s match at the NASDAQ-100 tennis tournament in Miami, Florida.
I’ve had my share of left ankle sprains and surgeries, and let me tell you, I almost had shock-waves running up my leg when I watched the slow motion replay of Golovin turning her ankle completely to the outside. She used an injury timeout and tried to continue, but after just one point, was forced to retire.
The match started out as a routine workout for No. 4 seed Maria Sharapova and she quickly galloped to a 6-3, 5-1 lead. Golovin, refusing to hand Sharapova an easy match, then saved four match points and stormed back to take the second set 7-6 (5) in the tie break. Ironically, the second set was settled as result of a overruled Hawk-Eye challenge by Sharapova.
Sharapova roused the ire of the fans twice when she headed off court, once immediately after Golovin saved the match points, and then again before the start of the third match. The crowd understandably turned towards Golovin, and in fact booed Sharapova once she returned on court.
Just when it looked like Golovin had the goods to take out Sharapova in the third set, she twisted her ankle on break point to level the third set 4-4. She tried to hold out and attempt to finish the match, but fighting off tears, retired and gave Sharapova the match 6-3, 6-7 (5), 4-3 for a spot in the tournament final on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova scored a huge upset over her doubles partner and world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo in their semifinal match.
Mauresmo headed into the match with a 4-1 career record against Kuznetsova, but the 2004 U.S. Open champion took out the top seed in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
Maria Sharapova will take on No. 12 seed Kuznetsova in the final round, which will be broadcasted live on CBS.
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