Wimbledon 2021: Roger Federer advances to next round after Adrian Mannarino retires with an injury

Roger Federer edged through the next round of the Wimbledon tournament after his opponent Adrian Mannarino was forced to withdraw in the first round with an injury.

Roger Federer advances to Round 2 after Adrian Mannarino was forced to retire with an injury.

Best wishes to Adrian in recovery. pic.twitter.com/Lzfz4uyHiP

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) June 29, 2021

Swiss survived a strong opening-round at the major event on Tuesday and advanced via walkover following his opponent who was forced to retire with an injury to his knee due to a bad slip that ended with the scoreline 6-4, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-2 ret.

Our heart goes out to you, @AdrianMannarino – it was a performance to be proud of and we wish you a speedy recovery#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/0uREBcRcrc

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2021

“Oh my god, I cannot believe it. It’s awful”, said Federer in his on-court interview.

It was Mannarino’s 33rd birthday he was playing on. He was leading in the second and the third set before he withdrew with a leg injury. He got behind Federer in the fourth set with 4-2 when he fell after slipping on the slick grass. The player grabbed his right knee in pain. He went ahead for two more games before he finally withdrew in the fifth set on the second point.

20 times Grand Slam men’s singles titles winner, Federer was not proud about winning like this. He told the crowd, “Not like this, please. Look, he could have won the match at the end. Obviously he was the best player. I do feel it feels a tad more slippery, maybe, under the roof. I don’t know if it’s just a gut feeling. One should move very very carefully out there. If you push too hard in the wrong moments, you do go down.”