Serena Williams Had To Retire From Her First Round Match At Wimbledon After Slipping On The Court

Serena Williams’ return to Wimbledon came to an end before it ever really got started on Tuesday. The seven-time champion slipped on the grass in her first round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the fourth game of the first set, injuring her left ankle and eventually forcing her to retire from the match just 34 minutes into the first set.

It is a gutting moment and you can see how painful it is to Williams to have to retire at a place she loves so much. Wimbledon has long been one of her favorite stages on which to play and you can see how much it means to her in her emotions as she walks to the net to officially retire from the match and then takes the time to wave graciously to the crowd as she leaves the court.

It’s a highly unfortunate injury, but Williams wasn’t the first casualty of the grass on the main court at Wimbldedon. Earlier in the day on Centre Court, Adrian Mannarino was also forced to retire after slipping on the surface in his match with Roger Federer in the fourth set while leading two sets to one.

There will be ample discussion of the court conditions, but the grass is always at its most lush early in the tournament at Wimbledon and slippery conditions can exist. For Williams it was a bitter end to what she hoped would be just the start of another deep run into the Wimbledon fortnight.