Buzarnescu's nasty injury at Rogers Cup draws concern about response time
Opponent Svitolina wonders if medical staff should be courtside at matches
A nasty ankle injury suffered by Mihaela Buzarnescu at the women's Rogers Cup had her opponent Elina Svitolina wondering if there should be courtside medical staff at all WTA matches.
Tournament director Eugene Lapierre said it took two minutes 30 seconds for a trainer to travel from the tournament's main building to the National Bank Court where Buzarnescu went down in pain after twisting her right ankle while chasing down a ball during Svitolina's 6-3, 6-7(5), 4-3 victory on Wednesday.
The Romanian was taken off the court on a wheelchair. She was treated in hospital for a sprained ankle and released.
Svitolina said it felt like it took twice that time for help to arrive as Buzarnescu writhed in pain on the court.
"I saw straightaway that it's really, really serious," said Svitolina. "There is nothing we could do, me or the chair umpire.
"I thought it took ages, you know, for people to arrive. The ankle was getting bigger and bigger each second. It's tough to see. It's tough to experience for her definitely. It's the worst probably feeling for any athlete to get injured that bad."
Korkunç anlar.<br><br>Svitolina, Buzarnescu karşısında 6-3 6-7 4-3 öndeyken Buzarnescu'nun bu pozisyonda sakatlanıp maçtan çekilmesi ile son 16'ya yükseldi.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RogersCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RogersCup</a><br><br> <a href="https://t.co/FbmQ1guYyL">pic.twitter.com/FbmQ1guYyL</a>
—@TenisKanaliSvitolina continued, pointing out the problems for officials, players and volunteers on the court when someone is injured.
"For physios it's tough to arrive quicker, but I think in general we should have a few people who are medically trained all the time on court because me or chair umpire, we don't know what to do in these kind of situations when the injuries are really serious like that," said Svitolina. "When there is blood, as well... I had goosebumps.
"For example, what if someone gets a heart attack? You need to act in the next minute, not like it was five, six minutes it took them to get there."
Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu leaves the court in a wheelchair following a right foot or ankle injury sustained in the 3rd set of her match against Elina Svitolina. Buzarnescu forced to retired. Svitolina advances 6-3, 6-7, 4-3 (RET). <a href="https://twitter.com/CoupeRogers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoupeRogers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sportsnet</a> <a href="https://t.co/3wxuWGxj4B">pic.twitter.com/3wxuWGxj4B</a>
—@Eric__SmithLapierre said it would be up to the WTA to decide whether having a medic at every match could be done.
"Personally, I don't think the situation is calling for it," he said. "From the time she turned her ankle to the time the trainers were actually there attending to her was a reasonable time, I think. Actually pretty good."