Following her monumental victory over Serena Williams in her main draw debut Tuesday, France’s Harmony Tan withdrew from her doubles match with a thigh injury just an hour before it was set to begin Wednesday.
Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch, Tan’s would-be-partner who was set to make her Wimbledon debut in doubles, was incensed at the news and took to social media to share her frustrations with the situation.
“She just texted me this morning,” Korpatsch wrote on Instagram. “Let me wait here [one] hour before the match start. I’m very sad, disappointed and also very angry that I can’t play my 1st Doubles Grand Slam. And It’s really not fair for me.”
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Tan defeated Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, 7–5, 1–6, 7–6 (10–7) in a thrilling match that took more than three hours and a third-set tiebreaker to decide.
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However, Korpatsch didn’t feel that the length of the match was a valid excuse for withdrawing.
“I didn’t deserve that,” she continued. “She asked me before the tournament if we wanna play doubles and I said yes, I didn’t ask her, she asked me! If you’re broken after a 3 [hour] match the day before, you can’t play professional. That’s my opinion.”
Korpatsch, 27, lost her opening-round singles match in three sets to Heather Watson on Tuesday. With Tan’s decision to drop out of the doubles draw, her time this year at the All England Club is finished.
Korpatsch later posted on her Instagram story, clarifying she didn’t “hate” Tan for dropping out.
“I just wanted to share my feelings and opinion about my situation,” she wrote. “If I’m still competing in singles, I would still feel and do the same.”
Tan, who is ranked No. 115, has yet to comment on the decision to drop out of the doubles draw or Korpatsch’s social media activity. She is scheduled to return to action Thursday in the second round of singles play against No. 32 seed Sara Sorribes Tormo.
