IANS

London

Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion from the US, was forced to retire from Wimbledon due to an injury in her first-round match against Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich here.

Arriving on court with her right thigh heavily strapped, the No 6 seed was leading Aliaksandra by a break in the first set at 3-1. Serving at 15-15, Serena slipped briefly at the back of the court and was finally forced to retire in the seventh game.

While she never fell to the ground, Serena requested for a physio after losing serve in the fifth game, and received off-court medical timeout before returning to the court.

Upon resumption, Aliaksandra held serve in the sixth game to level 3-3, but the match ended shortly after as Serena made the decision to retire and left the centre court to a standing ovation.

“I was heartbroken to have to withdraw today after injuring my right leg,” Serena said in an

Instagram post late on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer, former world No 1 and eight-time Wimbledon champion, enjoyed a bit of fortune while advancing to the second round after his French opponent Adrian Mannarino retired due to injury at the end of the fourth set with scores level at two sets apiece.

The 39-year-old, who has won 20 Grand Slam titles, bagged the first set 6-4 before losing the next two 6-7(3) and 3-6. He came back to win the fourth 6-2 in a games that lasted two hours and 44 minutes.

World No. 41 Mannarino, who was able to get through to the fourth set with the injury before pulling out, had slipped behind the baseline which led to the injury. He also received on-court treatment on the knee.

“It is awful. It shows that one shot can change the outcome of a match, a season, a career, said

Federer after the match.

“I wish him all the best and I hope he recovers quickly so we see him back on the courts. He could have w on the match at the end. Obviously, he was the better player, so I definitely got a bit lucky,” added Federer.