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WIMBLEDON, England — Anna Tatishvili’s tennis comeback looked merciless even before she took the court last month. After losing 19 months of her career to a persistent ankle injury, she returned at the French Open and learned that she had drawn an opponent nobody wanted to face in the first round: the No. 29 seed, Maria Sakkari, who led the women’s tour with 12 clay-court wins heading into the tournament.
It was no surprise then that Tatishvili lost badly, 6-0, 6-1. The shock came the next day when she went to collect her check for appearing in the first round.