Karolina Pliskova advanced to the Queen’s Club quarterfinals on Wednesday after Victoria Mboko retired with a left knee injury following a hard fall late in the second set.
Queen’s: Scores | Order of play | Draws
Pliskova led 6-2, 3-4, with Mboko holding a break point that would have given her a chance to serve for the set. But as the 19-year-old chased down a Pliskova forehand, she slipped on the grass and immediately grabbed her left knee. She was unable to continue and retired before another point was played.
“I think we played quite a good game today,” Pliskova said in her on-court interview. “She was improving as the match was going, so it would have been a nice match, but I wish her only the best. Of course, this is not the way I want to win, so hopefully she’s going to be fine for Wimbledon.”
Pliskova, who went over to check on Mboko and brought her a towel after the fall, now has two Top 10 wins this year — both coming via opponent retirement. She also led Amanda Anisimova in the third set in Doha earlier this year when Anisimova was forced to stop.
This is the first retirement of Mboko’s career at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level and just the third of her professional career, with her previous two coming at ITF events in 2024.
More to come…
