LONDON -- Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a 32-year-old American who came to Wimbledon eyeing a fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title, fell to the grass when her right knee buckled as she moved toward the net in a second-round singles match Thursday.
She immediately clutched her knee and, down on the turf, wailed loudly, imploring for someone to "Help me! Help me!"
Her opponent, Sorana Cirstea, immediately climbed over the net to check on Mattek-Sands, who after about 20 minutes was removed from Court 17 on a stretcher and taken to a hospital.
"Her knee was in a very weird position. I've never seen anything like this, probably, except in the movies. And, yeah, I panicked a little bit, as well," Cirstea said. "Then I called for help, but no one was coming. Then tried to comfort her as much as I could. But, I mean, you could feel the pain."
On Friday, a WTA spokesman said Mattek-Sands was having tests on her injured right knee and would provide an update on her Facebook account at 8 a.m. ET Saturday. Mattek-Sands later sent out a tweet thanking everybody for their support.
To the best family, friends and fans a girl could ask for, it's been a painful & emotional 36hrs but THANK YOU for all the love and support😘
— Bethanie MattekSands (@BMATTEK) July 7, 2017
Novak Djokovic tweeted out well wishes to Mattek-Sands for a fast recovery.
I feel for u and wish u fast recovery @BMATTEK So sorry that you are going through so much pain. Glad to see many people sending u love ❤
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) July 7, 2017
The All England Club defended its response time in a series of tweets, saying an ambulance technician was at Court 17 within one minute.
The extent of Mattek-Sands' injury, which came in the third set's opening game, was not immediately known. But word quickly spread around the grounds, generating concern among players. She's popular on tour, known for her gregarious personality, loud laugh and original fashion choices, including the stars-and-stripes knee-high socks she wore while teaming with Jack Sock to win a mixed-doubles gold medal for the U.S. at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"It's the peak of her career right now," said Bob Bryan, whose twin brother, Mike, won the 2015 French Open mixed-doubles title with Mattek-Sands. "She's a fun-loving girl. She doesn't have any enemies in the locker room."
She's also quite a doubles player, ranked No. 1 right now after teaming with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic to win the past three major championships and a total of five. Safarova heard about Mattek-Sands on TV and ran to her court, then stood nearby and wiped away tears as she saw her friend and playing partner in distress.
"Just terrible what happened. Obviously, I'm very sad for her. Doesn't matter about whatever goals we had," Safarova said, her voice barely above a whisper, after losing her singles match to Shelby Rogers of the U.S. in three sets. "It's just about her being healthy."
Mattek-Sands -- who was born in Minnesota, lived in Wisconsin and now calls Arizona home with her husband, Justin -- thought about quitting tennis years ago after a series of injuries. There was hip surgery less than a week after her wedding in late 2008, a torn shoulder in 2011, a broken right big toe in 2012. Her ranking dropped outside the top 250 in singles and doubles in 2014, when she missed six months after another hip operation.
"I'm just, like, really hurt for her," Safarova said.
There was no indication that the condition of the grass on the court had anything to do with Mattek-Sands' fall, but playing surfaces around the All England Club were a source of complaints by others Thursday. In particular, the areas near many baselines are brown and worn, with little or no grass in spots -- looking the way Wimbledon's courts usually do by late in Week 2, not as soon as Day 4 -- something players said they were told it was a result of unusual heat and lack of rain in recent weeks.
"The patch near the baseline is eaten up and the dirt underneath is like ice. Look around, people are going down left and right," said 46th-ranked Alison Riske of the U.S., whose 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over 12th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France on Court 18 was one of a handful of upsets in the women's draw.
"I was worried about, maybe, our safety, to be honest," Riske said. "The court was pretty slippery."
Both she and Mladenovic complained to the chair umpire before play started, and again after each took a tumble in the first two games.
"I did feel strongly about it, but I knew in my mind: Where else are they going to put us and is it going to be better? Kiki and I had a conversation," Riske said, referring to Mladenovic by her nickname. "And I said, 'Look, Kiki. Are the other courts going to be any different?' And obviously, they're not."
Mladenovic said she twisted her ankle during the warm-up period and said she'll have an MRI on her right knee, which turned awkwardly in the second game.
"There's no grass. I don't know how to describe it," said Mladenovic, who held a bag of ice on her swollen knee. "It's not even clay. It's not flat. I mean, I don't know."
Elsewhere on the women's side, No. 3 Karolina Pliskova, one of the tournament favorites, was ousted after an upset loss.
Pliskova, who entered the tournament with a chance to take over the No. 1 ranking, lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to Magdalena Rybarikova.
"My expectations were a little bit different than to make one round here," Pliskova said. "That's tennis, you know. Still, you still can play well and you don't have to win. That's my case today."
Pliskova was the runner-up at the US Open last year and had reached at least the quarterfinals of her past three Grand Slam events.
With the win, Rybarikova reached the third round for the second time in 10 appearances at the All England Club.
Top-seeded Angelique Kerber also advanced to the third round, along with seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, 14th-seeded Garbine Muguruza and 24th-seeded Coco Vandeweghe.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.