“It’s Wimbledon, I didn’t want to retire”: Chwalinska plays on through ankle injury on a match point and falls

Maja Chwalinska was a single point from winning her Wimbledon first-round match when she rolled her right ankle, and rather than retire she chose to play on – a decision that cost her the match but which she refused to regret, on Monday afternoon.

The Roland-Garros finalist, seeded 20th despite entering on a wild card, led Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-2, 5-2 and held match point at 40-30 when she fell awkwardly serving it out.

She had the ankle taped, carried on, and was overhauled – pegged back to 5-6 in the second set and ultimately beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 to become the first of the 32 women’s seeds to fall at the All England Club.

Sawangkaew, ranked No 164, won her first Grand Slam main-draw match and will next face the winner of the tie between American Alycia Parks and Englishwoman Alicia Dudeney.

Chwalinska : “I wasn’t taking a huge risk”

Chwalinska was clear about why she did not stop. “It’s Wimbledon. I didn’t want to retire at Wimbledon,” she said. “I knew I wasn’t taking a huge risk with my health. I’d have had a lot of regrets if I’d retired.” The fall, she conceded, changed the match. “I didn’t feel comfortable moving,” she said, though she noted she would have lost the match point regardless.

What followed was a physical unravelling she put down to more than the ankle. By the end of the second set she was cramping, which she attributed to a confluence of pressures. “It was stress, the change of surface, and how intense these last few weeks have been,” she said. “I think it all came together at once.”

She has barely played on grass, with no competitive match on the surface since a qualifying loss a year ago.

“My life has changed”

Her life, she said, has been transformed since her run to the Paris final, and the preparation was inevitably compromised. “I did everything I could, and I have no regrets.” That visibility has a darker side, too. Asked about online abuse, she admitted it lands. “I’m a sensitive person and the hate does reach me,” she said.

There was, even in defeat, something to hold on to. Chwalinska had been the better player for much of the contest, in command on a surface that is far from her best, before fortune turned against her at the cruellest moment. She took the opening set against an opponent at home on grass, and framed the day as another lesson banked.

“A loss is a loss, but you have to look at the positives,” she said. “I hope I’ll use this experience next year.” She generously credited Sawangkaew for staying focused against a hampered opponent: “It isn’t easy to play against an injured opponent.”