With the world’s eyes on the tennis star at Wimbledon, Serena Williams sadly was forced to drop out after injuring her leg. She slipped on the grass while hitting a forehand, and tried to continue playing, but her leg eventually buckled beneath her causing her to fall. The Associated Press has the story:
Tennis pro Serena Williams slips on grass at Wimbledon, significantly injuring leg
The Latest on Wimbledon (all times local):
8 p.m.
Serena Williams’ 20th Wimbledon has ended abruptly.
Williams retired in the first set after she hurt her leg in an opening-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.
Williams slipped on the grass while hitting a forehand in the fifth game. She winced and began to walk gingerly, and after losing that game went to the locker room.
She returned to continue, but with the score 3-all, her leg buckled during a rally and she crumpled to the court. Williams rose and cried as she walked to the net to concede.
A seven-time Wimbledon champion, Williams was again seeking a record-tying 24th major title. Her most recent came in early 2017.
At 39, Williams was still among the tournament favorites. She was the runner-up in 2018 and 2019, and Wimbledon was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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6:55 p.m.
Roger Federer has survived a tough test at Wimbledon with an asterisk.
Adrian Mannarino, playing on his 33rd birthday, won the second and third sets before retiring with a leg injury.
The Frenchman was behind in the fourth set when he slipped on the grass and fell, grabbing his right knee in pain. He limped through two more games in the first-round match before reluctantly calling it quits. The score: 6-4, 6-7 (3), 3-6, 6-2.
Federer was sheepish about winning.
“Not like this, please,” he told the crowd. “Look, he could have won the match at the end. Obviously he was the better player.”
An erratic forehand plagued Federer and he flirted with losing in the opening round at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2003. He committed four unforced errors with his forehand in the tiebreaker alone, including a shank.
Even so, the eight-time Wimbledon champion improved to 7-0 against Mannarino.
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No doubles matches scheduled for Wednesday due to rain
5:40 p.m.
Because of a backlog in singles matches due to rain, Wimbledon will schedule no doubles matches Wednesday.
In addition, men’s doubles in the first two rounds will be reduced to best-of-three so play can progress more quickly.
Some 39 singles matches have been postponed because of rain in the tournament’s first two days.
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4:40 p.m.
Eighteen singles matches at Wimbledon have been postponed because of rain, including one between No. 5-seeded Bianca Andreescu and Alize Cornet.
The match involving No. 12 Victoria Azarenka and Kateryna Kozlova was also pushed back to Wednesday, as were 10 other women’s matches and six on the men’s side.
The tournament had 21 matches postponed Monday.
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3:45 p.m.
No. 1-ranked Ash Barty overcame a wobbly stretch to reach the second round at Wimbledon.
Playing on grass for the first time in two years, Barty defeated Carla Suárez Navarro 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-1.
Barty let the second set get away when she was two points from victory but regained command by winning the first 13 points and five games of the third set. The Australian hit 13 aces and converted all five of her break-point chances.
Suárez Navarro was appearing in only her second tournament since announcing her recovery from Hodgkin lymphoma.
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3:20 p.m.
Alexander Zverev had 20 aces and only 18 unforced errors as he swept qualifier Tallon Griekspoor in the first round at Wimbledon, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
The result was a big improvement for Zverev after losing to a qualifier at Wimbledon in 2018 and 2019.
Zverev is seeded fourth but is only 9-5 at the All England Club.
Rain interrupted play for the second day in a row but matches continued on the two courts with retractable roofs.
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Sebastian Korda followed his sister into tennis
2:40 p.m.
Sebastian Korda is looking good on grass, just like his sister.
The 20-year-old American made his Wimbledon debut and upset No. 15-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5).
Korda’s sister, golfer Nelly Korda, won her first major title last week and is the first American in seven years to reach No. 1 in the women’s world rankings.
Sebastian Korda is ranked a career-high 50th, and added momentum to his breakout year by beating a top 20 player at a Grand Slam for the first time.
De Minaur, a 22-year-old Australian, was coming off his first tour-level grass title at Eastbourne.
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1:55 p.m.
Venus Williams has won a match at Wimbledon for the 90th time. She also beat the rain.
The 41-year-old Williams advanced to the second round by defeating Mihaela Buzărnescu 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. The match ended moments before a light shower forced an interruption in play on some courts at the All England Club.
Williams is playing at Wimbledon for the 23rd time. She has won the grass-court tournament five times, most recently in 2008. She is now ranked 111th, and the victory was her first since she won one match at the Australian Open.
Williams saved five break points in the first set as she pulled ahead. When she closed out the victory, she shouted “Come on!” and celebrated with her familiar pirouette.
Williams overcame eight double-faults and erased 13 of the 15 break points she faced.
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1:30 p.m.
Alison Riske of the United States lost in the first round at Wimbledon to Tereza Martincová 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
The 28th-seeded Riske committed 42 unforced errors.
In men’s play, Feliciano López’s 78th Grand Slam ended when he lost to No. 22 Daniel Evans of Britain, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 7-5. No. 26 Fabio Fognini beat Albert Ramos-Viñolas 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4.
No. 8 Karolina Plíšková eliminated Tamara Zidansek 7-5, 6-4, and No. 13 Elise Mertens beat wild card Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-3. No. 15 Maria Sakkari and No. 21 Ons Jabeur also won, and American qualifier Claire Liu outlasted Misaki Doi 2-6, 6-3, 9-7.
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11 a.m.
Roger Federer and Serena Williams return to Centre Court to highlight Day 2 at Wimbledon.
Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty also gets her campaign started by facing Carla Suarez Navarro.
The sky is gray with rain possible later in the afternoon after a soggy opening day at the All England Club.
It’s a packed schedule after 11 matches were suspended in progress because of darkness and more than 20 others were postponed on Day 1.
After Barty on Centre Court, eight-time champion Federer faces Adrian Mannarino followed by seven-time champ Williams against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Williams and Federer lost in their respective Wimbledon finals in 2019 — Williams in straight sets to Simona Halep and Federer to Novak Djokovic in an epic.
Williams is seeking a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
Federer looks to improve on his 20 major titles, a record shared with Rafael Nadal.
