Wimbledon tennis 2023: China’s Wu Yibing has to halt interview as he explains medical mystery that caused ‘collapse’ against Frances Tiafoe
- Wu struggles through interview after reportedly collapsing when he left court during his match against Tiafoe, having had his heart-rate checked
- ‘I had no idea what was going on,’ Tiafoe says, adding: ‘He told me that his heart was skipping a beat’
China’s Wu Yibing said he felt close to losing consciousness while suffering an unidentified medical issue during his Wimbledon singles match against Frances Tiafoe, which reportedly caused him to collapse while receiving attention off-court.
He was reported by Britain’s The Sun to have collapsed when he left the court with a doctor, who had found his heart rate to be high.
Following a 15-minute delay, the world No 62 returned to resume, with the BBC’s television commentator saying: “He’s going to continue – that is amazing.”
Wu went on to lose 7-6, 6-3, 6-4, and organisers announced that he and compatriot Zhang Zhizhen had withdrawn from the men’s doubles.
The 23-year-old from Hangzhou was still unwell when he tried to explain the incident in an interview in Mandarin that the ATP Tour posted on Weibo on Thursday.
He had to halt the interview to drink two cups of water and rest for 10 minutes before he could carry on.
“There was something wrong with the food I ate last night – I even felt like I was losing my consciousness out there,” Wu said. “I was better after my medical timeout, but it still affected my breathing.
“I feel good to play like I did, given my situation. I will go for a further check-up later.”
Tiafoe admitted that he “had no idea what was going on”.
“I was like, man, this is wild,” the American said. “Then he told me that his heart was skipping a beat. Having problems with his heart and stuff. Felt like he was collapsing in there.
“He’s like, ‘I’m gonna try and play.’ Once he said that, I was like, ‘Oh, we’re about to have a war. He’s going to start coming out and playing loose’ – which we did.
“I was happy he felt all right and he was able to finish the match and played a high level. I thought the last two sets was super-high level.
“It was fun. We get along really well – I like Wu a lot. We’re going to have many more battles.”
Who is Wu Yibing, China’s first tennis ATP champion?
Three weeks earlier, in his first ever match on a grass court, Wu had beaten Nick Kyrgios of Australia at the Stuttgart Open – eventually won by Tiafoe, who is aiming to be the first American champion at Wimbledon since Pete Sampras in 2000.
There were mixed fortunes for China’s other players in London.
Bai Zhuoxuan set up a clash with last year’s losing finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, as she earned her first win in the main draw of a grand-slam tournament by seeing off Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium 7-6, 6-1.
“I feel so happy right now – I will be even happier if I can go further in the tournament,” Bai told mainland Chinese media.
Wang Xiyu was beaten 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 by Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, while Zhang Shuai, a doubles finalist at last year’s Wimbledon, lost 6-2, 6-3 to 20th seed Donna Vekic of Croatia.
Earlier, Novak Djokovic reached yet another milestone in a straight-sets victory over Australia’s Jordan Thompson in the second round on Wednesday. It made him only the third player, along with Roger Federer and Serena Williams, to clock up 350 match wins at grand slams.
The 23-time grand-slam title winner, bidding to equal Federer’s record of eight crowns on the London grass, extended his record Centre Court winning streak to 41 matches – his last defeat being to Andy Murray in the 2013 final.
The Serb – also bidding to become Wimbledon’s oldest men’s singles champion, at 36 – said: “Centre Court has been the most special court for our tennis history. I truly try to marvel and enjoy every moment I spend on the court.
“It’s a huge privilege at this stage of my career when I’m trying to push the young guns. We have a very special, romantic relationship, me and this court.”
Additional reporting by dpa
