
Aussie star suffers bizarre wardrobe malfunction during nightmare Wimbledon performance
The bizarre incident summed up a tough afternoon for the Aussie No 16 seed, who was swept away by Samsonova, the 19th seed, 6-2 6-3.
The incident came after Kasatkina, 28, had belted a forehand towards her Russian opponent. But in the process of hitting her shot, the Aussie raised her shoulder to her ear, with the piece of jewellery catching her Adidas shirt.
Samsonova then responded by hitting a backhand back towards the Aussie, who was unable to respond as she attempted to untangle the earring from her clothing.
Despite that, Kasatkina got off to a solid start in the match, holding against Samsonova's booming serve to take the first set to 2-2.
But it was here that her Russian opponent turned up the heat, winning back-to-back breaks to win the first set.
Rain began to fall on SW19, and officials would subsequently call two rain delays, with umpire Nico Helwerth humerously being wheeled off the court while sat in the umpire's chair.
Kasatkina battled hard in the second set, trading breaks with her opponent to take the game to 3-3.
However, Samsonova proved too powerful for the Aussie, beating her on her own service late in the set to seal the match 6-3.
Samsonova has impressively not conceded more than three games during the Championships, with Kasatkina admitting she had been weary of what to expect from her opponent prior to the match.
'I knew that it was going to be very tough…' Kasatkina explained.
'She's in great shape, winning a lot, especially on grass, and her game… It's very good on this surface.
'Of course, I think I could do better on my side, but I also have to give her credit. She played a very, very good match.
'Her serve is one of the most dangerous ones on tour. A few times, I looked [at] the speed, it was about 170 miles per hour… We all know her game is super aggressive… I didn't feel like she was giving me any gifts today.'
Kasatkina had explained after her opening-round win against Emiliana Arango that she had thrown up on the side of the court, in front of multiple patrons, because she was so nervous.
The Russian-born tennis star explained her nerves had grown after she had been knocked out of the first round in each of the three tournaments she had played in the build-up to Wimbledon.
In April, Kasatkina revealed that she had gained permanent residency in Australia and said she would be flying back home in the next few days.
'Now I'm just managing the flights, and when it's like in the next couple of days, I'm going to fly, yes, to Australia. I know that it's winter there, so I think for the first time in my life, I'm going to experience Australian winter, not the summer,' said Kasatkina.
'It's my home now, so I have to accept it. I mean, this place accepted me.'

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