"I ended up biting through my lip, fracturing my chin, and chipping my two front teeth" - Coco Vandeweghe out of hospital after recalling serious accident

Coco Vandeweghe had envisioned a pristine two week in the South of London covering Wimbledon for ESPN and watching a lot of tennis. Instead, she was in the back of an ambulance going to hospital after suffering a nasty tumble on the pavement.

The two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist has been in the wars for much of her tennis career, suffering numerous injury setbacks which eventually saw her retire following a brilliant career. The American reached a career high ranking of ninth in the world while winning the 2018 US Open women's doubles title.

She hung her racket up in 2023 and made the successful switch to punditry, now a regular face on many different channels and broadcasters commenting and analysing current affairs in tennis. There has been plenty of storylines in this Wimbledon campaign, but many of them she has missed due to an unforeseen circumstance.

The incident occurred on the second day of Wimbledon and would leave her out of action for some time. Relieving the events, Vandeweghe posted what occurred on her Instagram page. "Last Tuesday, on my walk to Wimbledon, I had an unexpected accident and took a pretty serious fall," she wrote. "I ended up biting through my lip, fracturing my chin, and chipping my two front teeth."

A turbulent period for the 34-year-old, but she is on the mend. "It was a scary experience, but I'm so grateful to say my stitches are out, I got my new teeth a couple of days ago, and I'm healing well. Best of all, I'm back at work!" she continued. "This past week has reminded me just how fortunate I am to be surrounded by incredible people."

She offered a special mention to the people who supported her through this period. "Thank you to my friend Elena, who was by my side the moment I called for help; to my mom and fiancé, Daniel, who immediately flew to London to be with me; to my EPSN family, who constantly checked in and made sure I was taken care of; and to the amazing surgeons, doctors, nurses and hospital staff who quite literally put me back together again like Humpty Dumpty.

"Thank you to everyone who reached out, checked in, or kept me in your thoughts. It has meant more then you know."

She added numerous pictures to showcase the damage inflicted. One was her being wheeled away on a gurney by paramedics with the ambulance in the background. The next one was inside it as Vandeweghe posed for a picture while boasting a swollen mouth and chin, bandaged up with two of her teeth missing.

She would then show off the new teeth just after they were put in along with a couple snaps with an ESPN microphone in hand as she prepares to get back to work.

It is a hugely significant day that Vandeweghe returns on. Women's semi-final day sees some tantalising matches set to be played out on Centre Court. First up, Karolina Muchova and Coco Gauff clash for a spot in their first ever Wimbledon final. It will be a maiden Grand Slam final for one of Marta Kostyuk or Linda Noskova who have both impressed enroute to this point in the campaign. The winner will be crowned following Saturday's final.