Thanasi Kokkinakis struck down in heartbreaking Wimbledon scenes

Australian star Thanasi Kokkinakis was left writhing in agony as his Wimbledon dreams came crashing down in heartbreaking scenes.

Heartbreaking scenes for Thanasi Kokkinakis. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Thanasi Kokkinakis’ Wimbledon hopes came crashing down in the second round in heartbreaking scenes on Friday morning.

The Australian star was forced to withdraw from his match against France’s Lucas Pouille after slipping and injuring his left knee during an ugly fall.

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The 28-year-old instantly clutched for his knee as he went down in agony during the third set of the contest.

Kokkinakis recently withdrew from the Queen’s Club tournament due to concerns about a knee he had previously injured two years ago.

As the doctor came out onto the court, Kokkinakis had his knee taped and was given pain pills but pulled the pin on the match after Pouille’s next service game.

Pouille advances into the third round with the 2-6, 7-5, 5-2 victory and will now take on Alex de Minaur.

“I have got to see tomorrow with some scans about the severity of it, but I know I have done a similar injury to what I did at Queen’s, but the severity of it, it feels a bit worse, my gut feeling,” he told the ATP in a statement.

“I will find out more tomorrow but my next aim initially before I got injured was to play Atlanta on the hardcourt swing, but I have to get an MRI to see if that is possible or not.”

It was heartbreak for Kokkinakis. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Fiery post-match scenes rock Wimbledon

American star Taylor Fritz was in a fighting mood after defeating France’s Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in their second round contest.

The two faced off in a fiery 2023 French Open match which ended with Fritz shushing the crowd after securing the win.

In the lead up to their second round match Rinderknech referenced that match and delivered a not-so-subtle shot at his opponent.

“The atmosphere will be quieter (than at Roland-Garros) and he won’t cry as much,” he said.

“He whined a bit saying it was too noisy. I hold no grudge against him, but he was wrong if he thought the French crowd would send him kisses in between points.”

Fritz heard those remarks and after sending the world number 76 home, he let him know about it at the net.

“I just said, ‘Have a nice flight home,’” Fritz recounted.

The American then noted that the Frenchman had pointed out he was still playing in the doubles.

“I said, ‘Oh, congrats. Good for you’,” he said.

“Then he started acting like, ‘Why are you blah, blah, blah?’ I’m like, ‘Dude, you know what you said. You know what you said’.

“Don’t disrespect me before the match and then expect me to be all nice after the match.”

“That’s not how it works.”

Fritz will take on 24th-seeded Alejandro Tabilo of Chile on Saturday for a spot in the fourth round.

Fritz tells Rinderknech to have a nice flight home

You know what you did

Aussies book spots in third round

Alexei Popyrin and Alex de Minaur booked their spots in the third round overnight Thursday.

De Minaur looked in a rush to make it to girlfriend Katie Boulter’s match in a 6-2 6-2 7-5 win against Jaume Munar, before Popyrin delivered a giant upset of 30th seed Tomas Etcheverry, winning 3-6 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3.

Popyrin, 24, has never made it past the third round of a grand slam but will get the chance to correct that against Novak Djokovic after the seven-time champion battled past Britain’s Jacob Fearnley 6-3 6-4 5-7 7-5.

It could have been even better for Australia but relatively unknown Queenslander Adam Walton fell at the final hurdle in a heartbreaking 7-5 1-6 6-7 (12-14) 6-1 7-6 (10-8) loss to Francisco Comesana.

If Djokovic can make it past Popyrin and then navigate a likely fourth-round match against Holger Rune, the Serb could find de Minaur waiting for him in the final eight.

Originally published as Thanasi Kokkinakis struck down in heartbreaking Wimbledon scenes