Teenage tennis sensation Mirra Andreeva's Wimbledon adventure run ended in controversy after she was docked a point for throwing her racket.
The 16-year-old Russian player was docked a penalty point after her racket flew out of her hand, serving at 2-5 down in the third and deciding set, giving match point to Madison Keys.
According to the News, Andreeva had slipped while attempting to retrieve a shot from opponent Madison Keys, and the racket flew out of her hand while trying to regain her posture.
Emotional Andreeva contended with the umpire Louise Azemar Engzell but to no avail, saying it wasn't intentional as she had slipped on the grass and had not thrown her racket intentionally, which was very understandable as that was the first time the Russian champion would be playing on the grass.
However, Umpire Louise Azemar Engzell would not condone any of her excuses as Andreeva had already been warned for throwing her racket earlier in the second set, giving Keys a match point, which the American converted to reach the quarterfinals.
Andreeva pleaded with Engzell, "No, it’s the wrong decision,”
“Do you understand what happened? I didn’t throw the racket, I slid, and then I fell.”
When Andreeva insisted she lost control after sliding, Engzell moved her arm over her head to indicate the Russian had thrown the racket.
Andreeva told reporters, "I think I deserved the first warning I got... I was a bit frustrated. So that's why I threw the racket, But the second time was controversial, "For me, it's a controversial point because I don't know which decision was right. But I honestly didn't have any intention to throw the racket. I slid."
Despite all her pleas, Umpire Louise Azemar Engzell considered the incident severe and fined the teenage player a total of $8,000 for two separate incidents of her unsportsmanlike conduct.
This made Andreeva refuse to shake the umpire's hand after the match as she crashed out to 25th seed Madison Keys.
Even after the controversy and nature of her defeat, the Russian player Andreeva, who reached the third round last month at the French Open in her first Grand Slam main draw appearance, emphasized that there were positives to take from her run at her first senior tournament.
She said, "It's my first time on grass. I didn't expect to go that far in Wimbledon because it was my first time on grass. I had no experience at all. I passed the other qualifiers, and It gave me a lot of confidence."
"It's a good experience for me. I hope that I will do better next year."