23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams had a short Wimbledon campaign last year. The seven-time champion retired in the seventh game of her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich due to injury.
The American left the court in tears after her first withdrawal at Wimbledon since 1998! Struggling with her moves, Serena fell to the ground in game seven and couldn’t continue despite her best efforts.
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 deciding set.
Roger heard the news about Serena during his press conference and couldn’t believe his bad luck, especially after Adrian’s injury sent the Swiss into the final. Federer had to battle hard against the Frenchman to force a deciding set, winning the first and fourth sets 6-4, 6-7, 3-6, 6-2 when Mannarino retired.
The Swiss fired 53 winners and 45 unforced errors and converted four of 13 break chances to hang on and stay in the game. The eight-time winner did not look good in the third set, missing a lot and failing to impose his shots.
The Swiss won the first set thanks to a late break in the tenth game resulting from a winning cross backhand. Roger survived two break points in the fifth game of the second set and fought hard despite numerous errors to reach a tie break that could have given him the lead.
Serena Williams left the circuit at Wimbledon 2021.
Adrian got off to a good start in the tie-break with three return points and finished it off with a service winner at 6-3. They traded breaks in games 2 and 3 of the third set, and Mannarino earned another at 3-2 to move past.
The southpaw wrapped up the set with a volley winner at 5-3 and moved closer to a blowout victory. Federer bounced back and took a 4-2 lead in the fourth set before Mannarino slipped on the second point in game seven to injure his knee and request a medical time-out.
Roger grabbed another break in the eighth game to close the set, and the Frenchman retired early in the fifth, unable to move or stay competitive until the end.
“Come on! Coming out, the ref asked me what I thought of the court. I said I thought the court was normal. It seems a bit more slippery under the roof, maybe. I don’t know not if it’s just a gut feeling, and you have to move very carefully.
But it’s terrible what happened to Serena. It’s back-to-back games, and it affects Serena too. Oh my God, I can’t believe it,” said Roger Federer.
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