Arthur Rinderknech
While it is true that injuries are always annoying for top athletes, it is often they who are the cause! Stupid reactions or bad turns of fate. Let’s discover the stupidest injuries in the world of tennis.
Bad luck… French!
It’s a fishtail ending that will enter the best of stupid injuries. At Roland Garros, while he had produced one of his best tennis to lead two rounds to nothing against the Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry, seeded n° 28, Arthur Rinderknech was injured while giving a angry kick against a billboardnear the boxes where the players’ towels are stored. As a result, the unfortunate Frenchman finally had to give up, after medical treatment and a series of four defeats. “I feel very good physically but I just messed up,” admitted the Frenchman. I shot into the wall, a little annoyed, at 2-0, when I got broken in the fourth.” And if, in the end, his big toe was not broken, his morale was indeed!
For one of Rinderknech’s compatriots, Julien Benneteauthings happened differently, but just as stupidly. 13 years ago, while he was playing in the Auckland tournament with his doubles partner Nicolas Mahut, the two friends decided to go to a Japanese restaurant. In doing so, he decides to use the wands provided to him, which is always a bit difficult at first. So much so that Benneteau injures left little finger during his maneuvers, pushing him to give up on Auckland and the Australian Open! Throughout his life, he will remain the laughing stock of his friend Mahut and of all of France! Another awkwardness for another Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who, while walking in Toronto in 2012, inadvertently collided a fire hydrant with his knee. The result was eight stitches and, above all, no tournament in Cincinnati. Another example, Gilles Simonwho managed to break a rib when sneezing and cracked a vertebra during a trampoline session with Gaël Monfils.
Julien Benneteau
The war of nerves
Henri Leconte was also the victim of an unfortunate injury, but for which he was solely responsible. During the Milan tournament in 1998, “Riton” was so irritated after a defeat against Boris Becker he tries to appease his anger in the locker room by giving a coup fist on a wooden cabinet. Later in the day, the player returns to the court in doubles with Guy Forget. The next morning, the whimsical left-hander found himself with a completely inflamed hand, forcing him to take a six-week break. In doubles with Martina Hingis, the Swiss Marc Rosset also experienced misfortune. During the decisive match of the final, an arbitration decision in favor of Goran Ivanisevic and Iva Majoli fell on the opposing pair. Already quite angry, Rosset then tries to evacuate his frustration on the notice board hanging at the back of the court. Her punch well targeted then crosses the panel… to find himself against the cement pillar to which he was hanging. Result, a broken hand and a cross on the Australian Open and part of its spring season.
Henri Leconte © Christian Wilmes
No luck!
On the occasion of the Miami tournament in 2003, the Croatian Goran Ivanisevic decides to take a walk on the Key Biscane beach. Bad plan, since there he walks on a shellfish of which a piece sinks in his heel. A pretty nasty piece, since it ultimately had to be surgically removed, which caused him a lot of discomfort and kept him away from the circuit for a while. Michael Stich could not invoke such an exotic excuse in 1996 when he was fell in a locker room from Milan while trying to put on his shorts. The German, winner of Wimbledon, still tried to limit the damage (for his ego) by putting his foot down, but he then sprained his ankle, forcing him to cancel his participation in the Internazionale di Lombardy.
The fall of Peter Polansky will probably never be equaled. At 17, the Canadian was called at the last minute to replace a player in Mexico. Barely arrived, he wakes up at one o’clock in the morning in his hotel, feeling the presence of a man armed with a knife. Panicked, he breaks a window and jumps three floors. “I remember breaking the window,” Polansky said. “The next moment, I was on the ground. » Fortunately, a bush cushioned his chutebut the broken window caused considerable damage. Rushed to the hospital, the doctors briefly talk about a possible leg amputation. Fortunately, a five-hour operation and 400 stitches will have proven sufficient. The North American, who had also been the victim of somnambulism at a young age, had to spend several months in a wheelchair. And, although his career was not compromised, he was nevertheless advised to take rooms on the ground floor for the rest of his career.
Peter Polansky (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
In 2009, Sam Querreyformer world number 11, was then on the rise. Before leaving to train for the Bangkok tournament, the American giant wanted to tie his shoelaces and, to do so, placed his foot on a glass table. No doubt by exerting a little too much pressure, since the table gave way and Querrey crashed into the glass top, seriously injuring his arm. At the Thai hospital, the doctors told him that he had been very lucky because a splinter had passed within a millimeter of a nerve… Serena Williams also played a dangerous game one spring evening in 2010. The next day, the 23-time Grand Slam winner was scheduled to face Kim Clijsters at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels in order to validate the record for the “match welcoming the greatest number of spectators” at Guinness Book.
The day before, Williams was still in Munich where she was leaving a restaurant in which she celebrated her fourth Wimbledon title, when she walks on glass with open sandals as she walks towards a taxi. She then seriously injured her feet and was rushed to a German hospital where she was given six stitches in the bottom of her left foot and twelve in her right foot. More or less “on her feet”, she arrived the next day in Brussels to ensure the performance and confirm the 35,681 spectators present for the match. But then, these injuries forced her to skip the entire hard court tour in her home country, including the US Open! The American superstar had to go through surgery to save his career, which turned out to be the right decision…
Serena Williams
Watch out for your ankle!
Kim Clijsters she herself suffered mysterious injury in similar circumstances. At her cousin Tim Clijsters’ wedding party in April 2011, the four-time Grand Slam winner was injured during some wild dance steps. To be on the safe side, Clijsters had removed her high heels and was dancing barefoot when she wanted to avoid stepping into broken glass. A false ankle movement which led to a grave entorse and six weeks off. Clijsters therefore failed to prepare for Roland Garros, where she lost to Arantxa Rus in the second round. And unhappy ankle, Tommy Haas can also speak. In 2005 at Wimbledon, he played his first round match against Janko Tipsarevic when he step on a forgotten ball by a ball boy during service warm-up and sprains his ankle. Haas still tried to start the match, but quickly threw in the towel at 2-6, 1-2.
More, the prize for stupid injuries returns to the blonde Genie Bouchard. The Canadian tennis player – more of an influencer than a professional player for several years – saw her entire career turned upside down due to a small moment of inattention. In 2015, Bouchard, 20 years old at the time, was at the USOpen to play a match against future finalist Roberta Vinci. Late in the evening, she informed the physiotherapist that she was going to the physical center to take an ice bath. She then goes to the locker room to get her things, takes a few steps and slips due to poorly lit room. Falling head first on the tiles, she is the victim of a concussion. No USOpen therefore for Bouchard who will still be compensated three years later by the American tennis federation (USTA), condemned by a tribunal new-yorkais for not mentioning enough that the locker rooms had just been cleaned and the floors were slippery. If the exact amount was never revealed, it is said that she would still have pocketed several million dollars to settle the matter.
Genie Bouchard
