The tennis world raged on Tuesday when Adrian Mannarino and Serena Williams were both forced to retire injured at Wimbledon in back-to-back center court matches.
Roger Federer admitted he “got lucky” after surviving a huge scare when French opponent Mannarino was forced to retire early in the fifth set of their first round match.
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Eight-time champion Federer was tied at 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 3-6, 6-2 when Mannarino canceled after just one point in the decider.
The Frenchman, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday, suffered a bad fall on the grass of the center court in the seventh game of the fourth set.
Despite the coach’s care, he was barely able to move and had to withdraw in immense pain.
“It’s horrible and shows that a hit can change the outcome of a game, a season, a career and I wish him all the best and hope we see him again soon,” said Federer.
“He was the best player, he could have won, I was a bit lucky.
“That’s the way it is sometimes, you don’t have a lot of walks and try not to have that happen to you.
“It’s a reminder how fast it goes but I’m obviously happy to be able to get another game here – I had a great time today and it was great fun until the end. “
But in a devastating turn minutes later, Williams was also forced to retire injured after a similar fall.
Federer was horrified after being briefed on Williams’ crash during his post-game press conference.
“You have to move very, very carefully. If you push too hard in the bad times, you go down, ”Federer said.
“It’s obviously terrible that these are back-to-back games and that it hits Serena too. Oh, my God, I can’t believe it. “
Federer felt the surface was more slippery when the roof is in use, which was due to rain earlier on Tuesday.
Serena Williams in tears after devastating accident
Williams’ dream of winning eighth single at Wimbledon title and tying Margaret Court’s Grand Slam record were ended in the cruelest fashion.
The 39-year-old was leading 3-1 in the opening set of her first-round match against Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich when she slipped and had to have her left ankle examined.
Williams returned after receiving medical attention, but called him one day at 3-3 and left center court in tears.
“Brutal for @serenawilliams but the center court is extremely slippery there. Not easy to move there, ”tweeted British star Andy Murray.
American teen star Coco Gauff said she couldn’t look like the player who inspired her to play tennis was crying as she left the stage.
“I turned away,” said Gauff, 17, after defeating Britain’s wildcard Francesca Jones in her first round match.
“I was in the gym stretching. I turned away because stuff like that makes me really emotional. “
Fans were furious that two games were wasted due to issues with the center court surface, targeting Wimbledon officials.
with agencies
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