On Wednesday, Harmony Tan shocked many when she chose to withdraw from doubles play at Wimbledon. Surprised more than anyone was her German partner, Tamara Korpatsch, who found out only hours before their first match that Tan was choosing not to participate.
Tan upset 23-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams on Monday. It was Tan’s first victory in the main draw at Wimbledon, and was a thrilling match that excited fans and set the standard for what viewers want to see at Wimbledon.
Unfortunately, due to Tan withdrawing, Korpatsch won’t get to experience that excitement for herself. She took to Instagram on Wednesday saying, “She just texted this morning. 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.”
Tan allegedly withdrew from the doubles competition due to a thigh injury, but she is still planning to play in the singles competition on Thursday when she takes on No. 32-ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo from Spain.
Korpatsch, however, does not seem to be buying the thigh injury reasoning. She went on to criticize Tan saying, “If you’re broken after a 3h [three-hour] match the day before, you can’t play professional. That’s my opinion.” Tan’s epic match with Williams lasted three hours and eleven minutes on Monday.
The German Korpatsch lost to Heather Watson on Monday in the first round of singles making her last opportunity to claim a Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in doubles play. With no partner, that opportunity disintegrated right in front of her eyes as she read Tan’s text.
Understandably upset, Korpatsch did not hold back on social media when it came to explaining her absence from doubles to her fans. “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!”
With Tan continuing to play in the singles despite citing a thigh injury as her withdrawal from doubles, it begs to question if it is truly an injury keeping her from playing doubles or an inflated ego from beating legend Serena Williams in the opening round. While it is customary for players to drop out of doubles further into the tournament, say, when reaching the finals, dropping out after the first round of singles seems a bit extreme even if a bit of fatigue is plaguing a player.
Perhaps Tan will surprise everyone for a third time by making it far in Wimbledon singles play, but it seems unlikely for the 115th-ranked player to make it that far especially with a thigh injury added into the mix. Time will tell and sadly, Korpatsch will be watching from the sidelines as it all unfolds.