Paolini into Wimbledon quarter-finals after tearful Keys retires in decider

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini continued her remarkable run as she reached the quarter-finals here for the first time on Sunday when Madison Keys retired through injury late in the third set of an absorbing encounter on Court 1. Keys led 5-2 in the third set and was within two points of victory but Paolini refused to lie down and the American, who picked up a left leg injury, called it a day at 6-3, 6-7 (6), 5-5, unable to move, the tears flowing.

“Right now I’m so sorry for her, to end the match like this, it’s bad,” said Paolini, who will play either second seed Coco Gauff or another American, Emma Navarro. “I think we played a really, really good match, it was really tough, a lot of up and downs. I’m feeling a little bit happy but also sad for her, it’s not easy to win like that.

“It was a roller-coaster. I started really well, I was really focused on court but then she played great tennis, she raised her level and it was tough to return balls because they were really fast. I was repeating to myself to stay there, you never know in tennis. In the end, I know she retired, but I’m here with the win.”

It was desperately bad luck for Keys, a 29-year-old American who has suffered a string of injuries in her career. The runner-up at the US Open in 2017, she has endured leg, wrist, knee, neck, abdominal, back and shoulder injuries over the years, causing her to miss significant time on the Tour.

If it was not the way Paolini would have wanted to get through, but the 28-year-old, who until this year had never won a Tour-level match on grass, was rewarded for hanging in the match when it looked as if Keys was running away with it. She had already recovered from 5-1 down in the second set only to lose it 8-6 in the tiebreak and she was on her way back again in the decider.

The first set had been all Paolini, whose speed around the court and surprising power prompted Keys to make way too many unforced errors, the American firing too soon in the rally when she wasn’t really in position to strike. But the second set was the other way round. Keys reined in her mistakes and chose her time to attack sensibly. A semi-finalist in Eastbourne last time out, the 12th seed started to use her weapons, her serve clicking into groove and her thumping forehand racing past Paolini’s outstretched racket.

It was tense, though, as Keys let slip a 5-1 lead in the second set, Paolini’s resilience as impressive as her speed. At 5-5, facing a break point, Keys went ace, ace, forehand winner and when the set went to a tie-break, she held her nerve to take it 8-6 thanks to a brilliant half-volley.

The third set seemed to be going Keys’ way as she raced ahead 5-2 but that’s when the problems began. After missing a forehand to give Paolini one of the breaks back for 3-5, Keys began limping, her left thigh giving her trouble. Paolini held quickly to make it 4-5 and Keys took a medical timeout, off court. When she returned, with her left thigh heavily strapped, she was struggling to push up off the leg to serve and was virtually unable to move more than a couple of steps.

Her only chance was to try to serve it out but it was to no avail, a double fault allowing Paolini to level at 5-5. That, pretty much, was that. Two points later, with the tears continuing to flow, Keys quit.