‘Lucky’ Federer survives big scare; Serena retires hurt

Switzerland’s Roger Federer returns against France’s Adrian Mannarino during their singles first round match on the second day of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, yesterday. (AFP)

• Barty goes through after wobble in emotional first round clash Roger Federer survived a huge Wimbledon scare yesterday when French opponent Adrian Mannarino was forced to retire injured at the start of the fifth set of their first round tie with the Swiss great admitting: “I got lucky”. In women’s section, Serena Williams’ latest quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title ended in tears as the American retired injured from her clash with Aliaksandra Sasnovich with the score at 3-3 in the first set. Eight-time champion Federer was level at 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 3-6, 6-2 when Mannarino called it quits after just one point in the decider. The Frenchman, celebrating his 33rd birthday, suffered a bad fall on the Centre Court grass in the seventh game of the fourth set. Despite taking treatment from the trainer, he was hardly able to move and, grimacing in pain, had to retire. “It’s awful and shows one shot can change the outcome of a match, season, career and I wish him all the best and hope we see him back quickly,” said Federer. “He was the better player, he could have won, I got a bit lucky. That’s how it goes sometimes, you don’t get many walkovers and try not to have it happen to yourself. “It’s a reminder how quickly it goes but I am obviously happy I can get another match here – I enjoyed myself today and it was great fun until the end.” Just five weeks shy of his 40th birthday, Federer fired 16 aces and 54 winners yesterday but will be concerned by committing 45 unforced errors. Germany’s Alexander Zverev eased into the second round of beating Dutch qualifier Tallon Griekspoor 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 in just 89 minutes. The 24-year-old French Open semi-finalist had lost to qualifiers at Wimbledon on two occasions – Ernests Gulbis in the third round in 2018 and to Jiri Vesely in the first round in 2019 – but he made no mistake this time round. Earlier, Ashleigh Barty’s bid to win Wimbledon, half a century after fellow indigenous Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley won her first singles title, got off to a winning start yesterday with a 6-1, 6-7 (1/7), 6-1 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro. The 25-year-old top seed has never been beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon but two breaks of serve in the first set and then one at 4-4 in the second seemed to have set her up with a routine victory. However, with errors creeping into Barty’s game Spaniard Suarez Navarro broke back and the set went into a tie-break. Suarez Navarro – who has only returned to play in recent months after battling cancer – dominated it and held five set points taking it with the first one 7-6 (7/1). Barty, though, pulled herself together and played more like the world number one she is in the deciding set. She showed little sign of the hip injury that forced her to retire from the French Open and made no mistake when holding three match points, taking victory with her first one. Barty praised Suarez Navarro after the 32-year-old had walked off court to a standing ovation on what is her 11th and final appearance at The Championships. Suarez Navarro – whose mother Maris had been taking photos of her daughter and shed a tear as she left the court – is ending her career this year with the Olympics in Tokyo and the US Open left on her schedule. “It was incredible to share the court with Carla after her incredible career got a little bit longer,” said Barty. “She is a fighter, an incredible competitor and lovely person and I cannot find one bad word to say about her. “She is a genuine champion and will be sorely missed.” Barty had no warm-up tournaments prior to Wimbledon due to her injury but said her body was feeling fine. She said she had been honoured to open Centre Court play yesterday in place of defending champion Simona Halep who withdrew last Friday due to a calf injury. Former world number one Angelique Kerber made a wobbly start against Wimbledon debutant Nina Stojanovic before finding her groove on grass to secure a 6-4 6-3 victory and reach the second round. Serena Williams reacts as she withdraws from her first round match against Belarus’s Aliaksandra Sasnovich yesterday. (AFP)