Wimbledon

Serena hopes ended by injury, Federer survives scare

Reuters

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Serena hopes ended by injury, Federer survives scare

HEARTBREAKING. Serena Williams grimaces in pain after sustaining an injury before retiring from her first round match.

Jed Leicester/Reuters

A tearful Serena Williams retires from Wimbledon after suffering a first-round injury, while Roger Federer gets lucky with a walkover

Tennis great Serena Williams limped out of Wimbledon in tears after her latest bid for a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam singles crown ended in injury.

The American sixth seed and seven-times Wimbledon winner was clearly in pain on a slippery Centre Court and sought treatment while 3-2 up in her first round match against unseeded Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Tuesday, June 29 (Wednesday, June 30, Manila time).

Williams returned after a lengthy break but the distress was evident.

She grimaced and wiped away tears before preparing to serve at 3-3 after Sasnovich had pulled back from 3-1 down.

The 39-year-old, who had started the match with strapping on her right thigh, then let out a shriek and sank kneeling to the grass sobbing, before being helped off the court.

“I was heartbroken to have to withdraw today after injuring my right leg,” Williams wrote on Instagram.

“My love and gratitude are with the fans and the team who make being on centre court so meaningful. Feeling the extraordinary warmth and support of the crowd today when I walked on – and off – the court meant the world to me.”

Her misfortune added to an already dramatic second day in which men’s eight-time winner Roger Federer looked set for his first opening-round exit at a Grand Slam since 2003 when he found himself outplayed by Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

The Swiss trailed by two sets to one but Mannarino slipped on the greasy Centre Court turf but he soldiered on before losing the fourth set.

The match was poised at 6-4, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-2 with Federer forcing a fifth set before Mannarino, celebrating his 33rd birthday, decided he could not continue.

“It’s awful,” Federer said in his on-court interview. “It shows that one shot can change the outcome of a match, a season, a career. I wish him all the best and I hope he recovers quickly so we see him back on the courts.

“He could have won the match at the end. Obviously, he was the better player, so I definitely got a bit lucky.”

Federer, seeded sixth, was serving with a 4-2 lead in the fourth set when the 41st-ranked Mannarino slipped while attempting a return and twisted his right knee.

The Frenchman received medical attention on Centre Court and limped back to complete the set before shaking hands with Federer, who now has a 7-0 head-to-head record against him.

“You don’t get many walkovers throughout a career and you try also not to have it happen to yourself,” Federer added. 

“It’s a reminder how quickly it goes. But of course, I’m obviously happy I can get another chance for another match here.

“I worked very hard and at the end I enjoyed myself out here today. It was great fun until the end, obviously.”

The 20-time Grand Slam winner came into Tuesday’s match having lost just one set in his six previous meetings against the left-hander, including three on the manicured grass at Wimbledon. – Rappler.com

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