Teenager Mirra Andreeva was given a point penalty for throwing her racket and refused to shake the umpire's hand in a fourth-round loss to Madison Keys at Wimbledon.
The 16-year-old Russian, who has been a crowd favourite on her debut at the All England Club, looked set to become the youngest player since Anna Kournikova in 1997 to make the quarter-finals when she led by a set and 4-1.
But Keys fought back and Andreeva was given her first warning by umpire Louise Azemar Engzell after flinging her racket across the grass when she lost the second-set tie-break.
She then appeared to throw her racket again when Keys forced deuce at 2-5 in the deciding set, earning a second warning and an automatic point penalty, which gave her opponent a match point.
Andreeva argued her case with Azemar Engzell, saying: "Do you understand what you are doing? I didn’t throw the racket. I slid. It’s the wrong decision. I slid and then I fell."
But the decision stood and Keys won the next point to clinch a 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 victory, with Andreeva heading to the net to shake hands with her opponent but walking straight past the umpire.
Andreeva had feared being defaulted after whacking a ball angrily into the crowd at the French Open and teenage petulance is something she will clearly need to grow out of, but there is no doubt she is a special talent.
She had not played on grass until the qualifying tournament two weeks ago but she has learned quickly on the surface and her mix of terrific defence and intelligent point construction will win her a lot of matches.
For nearly an hour she was completely in control, with Keys, who possesses one of the most natural ball strikes in the game but can be very erratic, making error after error.
The American pulled herself together just in time, changing her tactics to follow her big groundstrokes to the net and even breaking serve with a left-handed forehand winner.
By the time the second-set tie-break came around, it was Keys who had the momentum, and Andreeva was unable to shrug off her disappointment at the beginning of the deciding set.
She briefly threatened to turn things around again but Keys kept her composure while Andreeva lost hers, and with it, the match.
The Russian said afterwards: "She's the umpire. She’s the one who makes the decision. But, honestly, I didn’t have any intention to throw the racket. I slid. I thought that I will fall forward. Maybe it did look like I threw the racket."
She was unrepentant about not shaking Azemar Engzell’s hand, adding: "For me, she didn’t do a right decision. That’s why I didn’t want to shake hands with her."
Andreeva is working through her anger issues by talking to herself in bed every night, and has taken encouragement from the way the likes of Roger Federer overcame teenage tantrums.
"I knew that Federer was struggling with emotions when he was teenager," she said. "Actually when I was younger, I saw that, 'Well, he was struggling also. I’m not the only one who also struggles'.
"I thought that I just need to wait a little bit and it will go away. But it doesn’t work like this. You just have to work on yourself. The faster you’ll do it, then the results will come also faster, I think. I started to work on myself just with myself. I think it works pretty good now."
Keys admitted she felt the pressure of the occasion, saying: "It’s tough being on the other side of the net of a 16-year-old who is really playing with nothing to lose and you’re the one that’s supposed to beat her.
"I think she’s a really great player on top of all of that. I think she moves incredibly well. I was very impressed with her serve. Overall I think she has a very solid game. It’s obviously going to improve with time."
Keys comeback complete.@Madison_Keys beats Mirra Andreeva 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 to return to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2015#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/qBzyNsbIB8
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 10, 2023
Ons Jabeur set up a rematch of last year's final after booking a quarter-final date with Elena Rybakina.
Jabeur, the sixth seed, was beaten in the showpiece match as Rybakina won her first grand slam title 12 months ago but she will be out for revenge when they meet in the last-eight on Wednesday.
She got there with a demolition of two-time champion Petra Kvitova on Centre Court, dishing out a 6-0 6-3 hammering in little over an hour.
The Tunisian brought her best game to the proceedings, delighting fans with drop shots, passing winners on the run and thunderbolts from the baseline as she made herself a real contender once again.
Kvitova, winner here in 2011 and 2014, was a shadow of her former self and struggled to cope with Jabeur’s variety, sending down 22 unforced errors.
"I don’t know who played today," Jabeur joked. "It’s amazing, I love how Petra plays.
"I respect what she has done for women’s tennis, for me to be able to win against her is huge."
"What an audacious return of serve!"
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 10, 2023
Sublime, @Ons_Jabeur ✨#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/XC5OrwmRhj
Rybakina will go into the rematch fresh after she was on court for just 21 minutes before her last-16 opponent Beatriz Haddad Maia retired through injury.
The Brazilian was enjoying her best run at Wimbledon, having never previously got past the second round, but hopes of a first quarter-final appearance were taken away from her when she suffered an injury early in the first set.
She had a lengthy medical timeout trailing 3-1 and tried to carry on but after being unable to move during a Rybakina service game it was clear that she could not continue.
Aryna Sabalenka’s victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova ensured all of the women’s 'big three' made it to the last eight.
The Belarusian is enjoying every minute of being back at this year’s tournament and did not waste much time in getting the better of the 21st seed, winning 6-4 6-0 on Court One.
She now plays Keys, in what will a mouth-watering encounter, and her eyes will be firmly fixed on a possible semi-final clash with Rybakina.
The first set was even and on serve until Sabalenka struck at 5-4 to take the lead and that gave her the platform for a dominant second set, which saw her bagel the Russian in 27 minutes.
