Wimbledon champion in tears on court before crashing out in third round

Barbora Krejcikova's Wimbledon title defence ended with a tearful third-round loss. The 17th seed lifted her second Grand Slam singles title here last year but spent six months sidelined with a back injury at the start of the season, missing several tournaments. She also withdrew from the recent Eastbourne Open ahead of her quarter-final, and was visibly struggling during her three-set defeat to Emma Navarro.

Krejcikova led by a set and a break before the No.10 seed forced a decider. After going down a break in the third, the reigning champion called the trainer and received a medical time-out. She played on but started crying at the back of the court after Navarro put herself one game from the fourth round, and the American closed out a 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory.

After getting broken to trail 2-3, Krejcikova received a medical time-out and had her blood pressure checked, putting her head in her hands while speaking with the trainer and the doctor.

Earlier this year, the Czech star revealed that she fainted after a match at the 2024 Olympics. And she appeared to be facing a similar issue over on Court 1.

"It's just disappointing when your body doesn't quite give you what you need from it," Martina Navratilova said on BBC commentary. "Something is not right for Barbora Krejcikova."

Navarro used the opportunity to speak with her coaching camp. The 2024 Wimbledon champion continued playing and started stretching out her leg in the next game, doubling over to catch her breath.

Somehow, she broke and got back on serve at 3-3, but Navarro immediately regained her lead in the next game and then held to lead 5-3, thanks to a forehand error from Krejcikova.

The 17th seed knew her time was up and walked to the edge of the court, leaning on the back board and covering her face while she cried.

"Well I suspect, Martina, there's many a player that might not be carrying on at this point, and this is really difficult to watch," BBC co-commentator Alison Mitchell said.

"Concern from the coaches and concerned support from No. 1 Court. The champion here last year."

Krejcikova was able to get herself on the board one last time before Navarro served out the match and took it when last year's winner made her 25th and final unforced error of the match.

Afterwards, the American paid tribute to her injured opponent and admitted it was difficult to play while her opponent was crying.

"It was really tough out here today. Neither of us played our best tennis. I know she was dealing with some injuries at times. I was dealing with whatever I was dealing with. It was really tough. I'm just so grateful to be playing here at Wimbledon and playing in front of you guys," Navarro told the crowd.

"I have to remind myself how special of an opportunity it is to be out here. It means the world to me. It's awesome to be here. It's really not easy (playing when Krejcikova was crying). Part of you is telling yourself to put a bunch of balls in the court and that's all you have to do.

"But she's an amazing player - injuries or no injuries. That's not good enough and then you trick yourself into taking too much off the ball and not playing the way you want to play. Not an easy challenge for sure."

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