Wheelchair Wimbledon champion falls out of chair, wins point

Gustavo Fernandez (R) with doubles partner Nicolas Peifer of France

Argentinian tennis player Gustavo Fernandez, who competed at Wimbledon in the wheelchair category, made a spectacular save at the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Hitting for the match-winning point, Fernandez reached out to return the serve from the side competitors Stephane Houdet and Shingo Kunieda. In a heart-stopping moment, the Argentinian lost his balance and fell out of his wheelchair, but used his arms to scuttle across the court, not only returning the serve but winning the point as a result.

Fernandez and doubles partner Nicolas Peifer went on to beat Houdet and Kunieda, who are the defending champions at the men's wheelchair doubles. The Argentinian-French doubles pair progressed to the finals in their category and beat the Scots-French pair of Gordon Reid and Michael Jeremiasz, who lost to them 5-7, 7-5, 2-6.

Although wheelchair doubles have been a part of Wimbledon for a decade, singles events have not been included. A spokesperson for Wimbledon announced this year, however, that the singles event for physically challenged players will be included in the tournament from next year.