US legend Serena Williams’ dreams of winning an eighth Wimbledon singles title and equaling Margaret Court’s Grand Slam record of 24 ended in tears on Tuesday as further doubt was cast on her future in the sport.
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 injured her right leg.
Williams returned from receiving medical attention, but called it a day at 3-3 and walked off Centre Court in tears.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I was heartbroken to have to withdraw today after injuring my right leg,” she said in a statement posted late evening on her Instagram account.
Perhaps tellingly, she waved to all four sides of the court as she left.
However, she gave no indication in the statement of how serious the injury was or about her future. It is the first time that Williams has bowed out in the opening round of Wimbledon in 20 appearances.
She has only once lost in the first round at any Grand Slam, in the 2012 French Open.
The tears said it all as with the withdrawals of 2019 champion Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka prior to the tournament she would have fancied her chances of at last equaling the controversial Court’s landmark.
“Brutal for @serenawilliams but centre court is extremely slippy out there. Not easy to move out there,” Andy Murray wrote on Twitter.
Coco Gauff said she could not look as the player who had inspired her to take up tennis wept as she left the stage.
“I turned away,” said 17-year-old Gauff after beating British wild-card Francesca Jones 7-5, 6-4 in her first-round match.
“I wish that hopefully she can have a speedy recovery,” Gauff said. “Yeah, you could tell she was really emotional... Nobody ever wants to retire, but especially at a Grand Slam, a place as special as Wimbledon after waiting two years to come back.”
Wimbledon was canceled last year due to COVID-19.
Sasnovich said she felt for “a great champion.”
“It was very slippery, I felt, as well,” she said. “When she did the angled shot, I couldn’t run because it was so slippery, but, okay, it’s the same for everyone.”
Swiss legend Roger Federer and Australia’s world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty progressed, but only after overcoming scares.
They at least were able to play to schedule due to the roof on Centre Court, but those on the outside courts had to kick their heels for several hours because of rain.
As a result, 27 singles matches had to be deferred to yesterday, and the men’s doubles matches were changed to the best of three sets in the first and second rounds to get the schedule back on track.
Federer arrived on the back of a disappointing second-round exit at Halle. The 39-year-old eight-time champion looked to be more deflated than pumped up when he trailed Frenchman Adrian Mannarino by two sets to one.
However, already a break up in the fourth and looking more like the Federer of old, the match turned when Mannarino tumbled toward the end of the fourth set.
His fall was at the same end of Centre Court that also claimed Williams, and he had to retire at 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 3-6, 6-2.
“He was the better player, he could have won, I got a bit lucky,” Federer said.
Federer said he felt the surface was more slippery when the roof was in use, which it had been due to rain earlier on Tuesday.
“You do have to move very, very carefully out there. If you push too hard in the wrong moments, you do go down,” he said. “This is obviously terrible that it’s back-to-back matches and it hits Serena as well. Oh, my God, I can’t believe it.”
Barty came through 6-1, 6-7 (1/7), 6-1 against Carla Suarez Navarro in a match filled with emotion on Centre Court.
Barty’s Spanish opponent made sure her 11th and final appearance at Wimbledon went the distance just months after returning from a winning fight against cancer.
Barty joined in the standing ovation for Suarez Navarro as the 32-year-old left the court.
“She is a fighter, an incredible competitor and lovely person,” Barty said of her opponent.
Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun, who has qualified to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games, took on Australia’s Marc Polmans, but was defeated 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
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