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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Fraser Watson

Serena Williams' Wimbledon conqueror slammed by partner after doubles withdrawal

Harmony Tan's dramatic Wimbledon win over Serena Williams hasn't gone down well with everyone - least of all her doubles partner.

French player Tan, 24, upset the odds in a late night thriller on Centre Court, winning 7-5 1-6 7-6 in a match that lasted more than three hours. The world No 115 will now take on Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo in her second-round match on Thursday.

But the exhaustive nature of her efforts have clearly taken their toll, with Tan opting to withdraw from her scheduled doubles match on Wednesday. She had been due to partner German star Tamara Korpatsch in a clash with Raluca Olaru and Nadiia Kichenok.

Korpatsch however, appears less than understanding. Taking to Instagram, she expressed her anger by explaining: Unfortunately my doubles partner H. Tan retired from our doubles today. She just texted me this morning," she posted.

"Let me wait here 1 hour before the match start. I'm very sad, disappointed and also very angry that I can't play my 1st Doubles Grand Slam. And It's really not fair for me I didn't deserve that. She asked me before the tournament if we wanna play doubles and I said yes, I didn't ask her, she asked me!

And the excuse of fatigue didn't seem to wash with Korpatsch either, who added: "If you're broken after a 3h match the day before, you can't play professional. That's my opinion."

But one rant wasn't enough for Korpatsch, who was beaten in three sets by Britain's Heather Watson in her own singles' match on Tuesday. She uploaded another post, saying: "She can’t run cause she played a 3-hour match yesterday.

Sorry, but I’ve played 6:33h in one day and played a singles match the next day. It's really not fair and I'm very sad and disappointed that I can't play my first Grand Slam doubles."

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg was one to comment on her outbursts, tweeting: "Tan’s partner Tamara Korpatsch is quite plucked about this doubles withdrawal, making two different Instagram statements about it."

The Tennis Podcast account added: "You know a player is p***ed off when they issue two (2) separate Instagram statements. Harmony Tan pulled out of doubles and Tamara Korpatsch is not happy about it."

Many fans on social media sympathised with the Wimbledon debutant, with @PaulPrigby saying: "It is a poor show to let the partner down that way, particularly for her first slam. Not a good look…"

@lewpy added: "At the VERY least Tan should give her a cut of her singles winnings to make up for this. I would be quite chapped if this happened to me," but @iNaif_Gs argued: "I feel bad for Tamara, should at least be allowed to repair."

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