A defiant Eugenie Bouchard said that she was ready to play on one leg at Wimbledon next week after an abdominal problem forced the world No12 to retire from her third-round match against Belinda Bencic at the Aegon International.
Bouchard, who lost in the final at Wimbledon last year, called for the trainer when she was trailing 6-4, 3-0 with Bencic poised to serve, before deciding that it would be better not to aggravate the injury.
Having burst on to the scene so thrillingly last year, it is the latest setback for Bouchard in what has been a miserable season so far for the Canadian – after dropping out of the top 10 earlier this month, she has now lost 10 of her past 12 matches and has only eight wins in 2015.