The winner of 23 Majors, Serena Williams, had a short campaign at Wimbledon last year. The seven-time champion withdrew in game seven of her first-round matchup against Aliaksandra Sasnovich due to injury.
The American walked off the court in tears after her first retirement from Wimbledon since 1998. With movement difficulties, Serena fell to the ground in the seventh game and was unable to continue despite trying with all her might.
In the previous match on Center Court, Adrian Mannarino injured his knee against Roger Federer while leading two sets to one and retired early in the decider. Roger found out about Serena’s news during his press conference and couldn’t believe how unlucky she was, especially after Adrian’s injury caused her to retire.
Federer had to battle hard against the Frenchman to force the decider, winning the first and fourth sets 6-4, 6-7, 3-6, 6-2 when Mannarino resigned. The Swiss shot 53 game winners and 45 unforced errors and converted four of 13 break point opportunities to hang on and stay in contention.
The eight-time winner was not well in the third set, missing a lot and not imposing his shots. The Swiss won the first set with a late break in game ten thanks to a backhand crosscourt winner.
Roger survived two break points in the fifth game of the second set and fought well, despite his many mistakes, to reach a tie break that could have given him more of an advantage.
Serena Williams retired at Wimbledon last year.
Adrian started the tie break strong with three return points and closed it out with a service winner 6-3.
In the third set, they traded breaks in games two and three, with Mannarino grabbing another one at 3-2 to take the lead. The southpaw closed out the set with a volley winner at 5-3 and moved closer to a big win.
Federer recovered to take a 4-2 lead in the fourth set before Mannarino slipped in the second point of game seven to injure his knee and call a medical timeout.
Roger got another break in the eighth game to close out the set, and the Frenchman retired early in the fifth, unable to move or stay competitive until the end. “Come on! On the way out, the referee asked me what I thought of the track.
I have told him that I think the track is played normally. It feels a little more slippery under the roof, maybe. I don’t know if it’s just a gut feeling, and you have to move very carefully. But it’s terrible what happened to Serena.
Which is consecutive matches, and which hits Serena too. My God, I can’t believe it,” said Roger Federer.
–
