French Open star collapses to ground and can’t move as medics rush to court | Tennis | Sport

A cramping Jakub Mensik dropped to the ground and couldn’t move for several minutes after winning a four-hour and 41-minute epic against Mariano Navone. No. 26 seed Mensik blew a couple of match points during the fifth and final set, and it all came down to a 10-point match tiebreak.

Mensik led 9-7 in the breaker and had a couple more match points, but he started cramping as the match went beyond four-and-a-half hours. He was given a time violation for taking too much time between points and could barely move around the court. Somehow, he converted his eighth match point to claim a 6-3 2-6 6-4 2-6 7-6(11) victory.

The ball sailed into the air, and the Czech star could barely step forward to hit the overhead. He grabbed his thigh in pain as he did it, and he finally got the win, immediately dropping to the ground in pain. But it was the wrong idea.

Mensik’s body finally relaxed, and he couldn’t get back up. Navone eventually came around to his side of the court, and they shook hands, but the 26th seed seemed to tell his opponent not to help him up.

His team had been celebrating wildly in the stands of the small Court 6, but looked increasingly concerned as Mensik failed to get up. The 20-year-old attempted to use some momentum to sit back up, but could barely lift his chest before he fell back down.

The umpire and physio quickly came over, and Mensik used one of the ice towels as a pillow to cool off while the trainer tried to help him. But several medics soon joined them as he struggled to stop cramping and get back on his feet.

“I don’t know who I feel for more, for Navone walking off the court and seeing the man that has just beaten him lying on the middle of the court in utter distress and pain, or for Jakub Mensik, I mean, how on earth does he recover after a match like that?” Anne Keothavong said on TNT Sports.

“And I was also thinking, ‘Why on earth is it taking so long for somebody to come over and help him?’ The guy was in pain throughout that match tiebreak.”

Mensik was eventually helped to his feet and managed to walk off the court by himself. However, he still didn’t look fully recovered and needed a wheelchair to make the very short journey from Court 6 to the player area, where he again walked off by himself.