Tennis player goes from match point to stretcher in a matter of minutes

A. Isaac Senior Editor

After blowing match point and a 5-2 lead to No. 3 seed Vera Zvonareva at the French Open, the physical and mental anguish was simply too much for German Sabine Lisicki. As she went to shake the chair umpire’s hand after losing, she collapsed on the court in severe pain from leg cramps. Lisicki was left unable to move and was taken off the court on a stretcher.

sabine lisicki 309x179 Tennis player goes from match point to stretcher in a matter of minutes

Thankfully, Lisicki is ok. She left this message on her website today.

Hi everyone,

I had a great tournament and a very good match against Vera. Unfortunately it didn´t go my way but I still have a lot of positive things that I take out of this match! I´m sad that my body let me down. Doctors recently discovered that I´m intolerante to Gluten- meaning I can´t eat e.g. pasta. One of the biggest energy sources…
My body needs to adjust to the big change and needs some time. Its good that we found out and it will only make life better in the long run! Thanks for all the nice messages! I´m ok and excited to continue my good play on the grass.

Ouch. There are certainly worse hands she could have been dealt but having celiac disease as a competitive athlete is pretty rough. It does, however, explain her somewhat dramatic fall from #22 in the world just 18 months ago, to her current rank of #123.

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