Federer survives Centre Court scare

Roger Federer survived a scare on Tuesday at the start of his quest for a ninth title at The Championships, Wimbledon.
The Swiss superstar fought back against Adrian Mannarino, before the Frenchman retired at the start of the fifth set, unable to put any weight on his right leg following a slip behind the baseline.

Federer was level with Mannarino, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday, at 6-4, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-2 after two hours and 44 minutes of play on Centre Court.

At 2-4 in the fourth set, with Federer serving at 0/15, Mannarino slipped when split-stepping behind the baseline and the Frenchman subsequently required on-court treatment for a right knee complaint. Mannarino attempted to play on, but at the start of the fifth set called time on his seventh ATP Head2Head meeting against Federer.

It’s awful, said Federer, in an on-court interview. ‘It shows that one shot can change the outcome of a match, a season, a career. I wish him all the best and I hope he recovers quickly so we see him back on the courts. He could have won the match at the end. Obviously he was the better player, so I definitely got a bit lucky.

0

0