Petrova puts heat on the organisers

Nadia Petrova accused the All England Club of failing to protect the players from the hot weather after she crashed out of the quarter-finals.

Petrova was beaten by Russian compatriot Elena Dementieva, the No5 seed, in sweltering conditions on Centre Court yesterday and believes she should have taken a break from the heat after levelling the match at one set all.

The No21 seed who lost 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, said: "I think I made a mistake staying on court. I should go off and cool down.

"I thought it was very hot weather conditions and I was very surprised that we were not treated as we should.

"I think for the first two sets there was not a ball boy putting the umbrella behind us. It was pretty warm, so I had to go off and cool down a little bit.

"But on the other hand, I didn't want my focus to go away. I also felt a little bit tired from the previous night because I finished playing mixed doubles at 9pm. So there was not enough time to recover."