London: Roger Federer survived a scare on Tuesday at the start of his quest for a ninth title at The Championships, Wimbledon.
The Swiss superstar fought back against Adrian Mannarino, before the Frenchman retired at the start of the fifth set, unable to put any weight on his right leg following a slip behind the baseline.
Federer was level with Mannarino, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday, at 6-4, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-2 after two hours and 44 minutes of play on Centre Court.
At 2-4 in the fourth set, with Federer serving at 0/15, Mannarino slipped when split-stepping behind the baseline and the Frenchman subsequently required on-court treatment for a right knee complaint. Mannarino attempted to play on, but at the start of the fifth set called time on his seventh ATP Head2Head meeting against Federer.
It’s awful, said Federer, in an 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.
Meanwhile, American legend Serena Williams’s dreams of winning an eighth Wimbledon singles title and equalling Margaret Court’s Grand Slam singles record of 24 ended in tears on Tuesday. The 39-year-old was leading 3-1 in the first set of her first round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus when she slipped and had to have her left ankle examined. Williams returned from receiving medical attention but called it a day at 3-3 and walked off Centre Court in tears. It is the first time that Williams has bowed out in the first round of Wimbledon.
Daniil Medvedev defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in a hard-fought encounter between the two.Medvedev and Struff pushed each other to the brink as the match concluded 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3) in favor of the Russian.If Medvedev wins the grass-court Grand Slam, he is in contention to claim the ATP World No. 1 ranking. Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is heading to the second round at Wimbledon.The No. 10 seed, from Richmond Hill, Ont., beat Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in a first-round match on Tuesday. Shapovalov was down 6-5 in the fourth set when rain halted play for three-plus hours.
