During a Wimbledon women's doubles match on Sunday, Mexican Giuliana Olmos accidentally smashed the ball directly into the head of opponent Ulrikke Eikeri at point-blank range, drawing gasps from the crowd at the All England Club.
Incident Details
The pairing of American Quinn Gleason and Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri faced Olmos and American-Estonian Ingrid Neel. After splitting the first two sets, Olmos and Neel held serve to open the third set. With Gleason serving and her team leading 30-15 in the second game, Gleason exchanged groundstrokes with Neel before Olmos intercepted at the net. Eikeri ducked to avoid the ball, but the return struck her squarely on the head and went out of play.
The crowd audibly gasped, and Olmos immediately cried out, "sorry, sorry, sorry," extending her hand in apology. She moved forward to check on Eikeri, who shrugged off the blow, took a drink, and returned to the court within seconds. Eikeri and Gleason won the game but ultimately lost the match 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Match Outcome and Player Profiles
Olmos and Neel advanced to the round of 16, where they defeated third seeds Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 on Monday. Olmos, 33, has won seven WTA Tour doubles titles and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 6 in April 2023. She partnered with Neel for the grass-court season, debuting at the Libéma Open in June and reaching the final before losing to Shuko Aoyama and Liang En-shuo.
Neel, 28, has four WTA Tour doubles titles and a career-high ranking of No. 33 in May 2024. Eikeri, 33, is a four-time doubles champion, climbing to 26th in the world in April 2024 and currently ranked 40th. Gleason, 31, is ranked 34th, her highest ranking, and has two WTA doubles titles.
