Four-time Australian Open champion Monica Seles moved quickly into the quarter final on Sunday, after her Spanish opponent Anabel Medina Garrigues fell over during their match on Rod Laver Arena and was forced to retire due to a knee injury soon after.
The young Spaniard had raced away to a 2-0 lead in the first set before the former world No.1 recovered and reeled off the next three straight games to stand at 3-2. Medina Garrigues then tumbled over in the last point of the sixth game, and lay in agony, unable to move, on the court for five minutes while the trainer attended to her.
The distraught Spaniard tried valiantly to return to the game, but waved the white flag after hobbling through the next two points. Seles was leading 4-2 30-0 when Medina Garrigues decided to stop playing. The match had been in progress 33 minutes. She shook the American’s hand before collapsing into her courtside chair and weeping.
“She’s probably playing some of the best tennis of her career, so that was a tough situation,” said Seles, who now has a 40-2 win-loss career record at Melbourne Park. “It is unfortunate because it was such a good game. Some of our best tennis was ahead of us.”
Seles, the No.8 seed, will now play the winner of the Venus Williams vs Magdalena Maleeva match, scheduled on Vodafone Arena, late Sunday. “I’ll try to watch a little bit (of that match), because I didn’t get a chance to see either of them this week,” said the American.