Injury, fatigue cancel Czechs

Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka were both still awake at 5 am, a mere nine hours before they would play for the Olympic bronze medal.

Hlavackova had spent all night at the hospital, undergoing a CT scan after a volley to her face fractured an orbital bone. But she was more distraught over the fact their doubles match was scheduled less than 13 hours after Hradecka's mixed doubles quarterfinal ended.

Tired and sore, Hlavackova and Hradecka went from being so close to a guaranteed medal to leaving Rio empty-handed.

In Friday's semifinals, the Czechs were one point from victory when Switzerland's Martina Hingis crushed a swinging volley into Hlavackova's face.

Hlavackova crumpled to the court in tears, and she and Hradecka went on to lose to Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Hlavackova spent five hours at the hospital, and on Saturday morning, she was "90 percent" sure she couldn't play. But an hour before the match's scheduled start, Hlavackova warmed up and felt OK, and she went on court with three blue and white strips of medical tape radiating from her swollen left eye.

Her compromised vision was a bigger problem than the pain. Still, the fear of straining her facial muscles too much meant she couldn't exert normal power on her strokes.

"I couldn't serve hard; I couldn't hit the balls hard," Hlavackova said. "I was worried I would damage my eye."

Yet she and Hradecka were up a break in the first set, in position to serve it out. That's when Hradecka's ailments became the greatest impediment.

Her mixed doubles match with Radek Stepanek didn't start against Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu and Horia Tecau until nearly 11:30 pm, because Tecau had played in the men's doubles final earlier in the night.

Hradecka got to bed at around 3:15 am, but couldn't fall asleep until about 6.

Asked how she felt before Saturday's match, she replied: "Totally dead."

It all caught up to her when she tried to serve out the first set.

"I felt like my legs are so heavy," Hradecka said. "From this moment, I couldn't move."

They went on to lose 7-5, 6-1 to teammates Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova.

Hlavackova was incensed that tournament officials didn't schedule the bronze-medal match later in the day considering the timing of Hradecka's mixed doubles - and she said she let them know.

After Friday's semifinals, Hlavackova watched a clip of Hingis' shot.

"She's one of the greatest and knows where to put the ball," Hlavackova said of the 12-time major doubles champion. "When I saw the video and I saw the space which was around me, I have to admit that she could have put it away."

Hlavackova, who said she has a good relationship with Hingis, was also troubled by the Swiss star's reaction to the injury.

"She was more worried about not getting a medical timeout for me than about my eye," Hlavackova said.