A BRITISH birthday boy cut his hand open when his wheelchair crashed into the side of the court during a Wimbledon semi-final.
Norfolk’s Ben Bartram and Spanish partner Daniel Caverzaschi faced Japanese No2 seeds Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki in the men’s wheelchair doubles.
Oda and Miki claimed the first set 6-4, with the former serving in the opening game of the second.
But as Bartram pushed himself out wide to the left in an attempt to retrieve an angled Oda shot, he played the backhand before his chair collided into the rolled-up court covering at speed.
The wheelchair toppled, sending the player celebrating his 19th birthday today over the green fencing surrounding the court.
Bartram put his right hand down to break his fall – but in doing so managed to cut his playing hand.
After being helped up by Caverzaschi, he was clearly in significant pain as he shook it in agony, pressing various parts repeatedly amid fears he could have dislocated a finger.
And the teenager needed the physio to come on to No3 Court for a medical time-out to clean up the open wound and check for any internal damage to the bones or ligaments.
The commentator said: “Let’s hope his grip hand hasn’t been affected but that was a pretty heavy tumble.
“You’ve got man and machine to consider and he was not able to apply the brakes in time.
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“The chair is considered to be an extension of the player but takes up so much more room and the stopping is not as instant to athletes sprinting around.”
Thankfully Bartram, making his Wimbledon debut, was able to carry on after a seven-minute delay but the British-Spanish duo managed to win just one more game, falling 6-4 6-1.
Oda and Miki will take on No1 seeds Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid in Sunday’s final – with the British pair aiming to win their 20th Grand Slam and sixth Wimbledon title together.
Before that, Hewett faces Spain’s Martin De La Puente in the men’s wheelchair singles final at 11am on No1 Court.
Hewett lost the 2022 and 2023 finals – the former despite serving for the match four times.
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He just needs the Wimbledon trophy to complete the tennis Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles.
Bartram’s incident happened while the ladies’ singles final took place on Centre Court.
Barbora Krejcikova emulated her hero and mentor, the late Jana Novotna, to be crowned Wimbledon champion as she beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2 2-6 6-4.
Tomorrow, Carlos Alcaraz will try and defend his men’s singles title against Novak Djokovic in a repeat of last year’s epic five-set thriller.
That will be followed by the rearranged mixed doubles final – which could clash with England’s Euro 2024 final against Spain.
