Serena Williams’ Wimbledon run has come to end before it really began.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion was forced to retire in the first round after sustaining an apparent ankle injury. It’s just the second time in her career that Williams has retired from a match.
Serena Williams receives a standing ovation from the crowd at #Wimbledon Williams was forced to retire in the first round of after sustaining an apparent injury. pic.twitter.com/exFZxJJZGh— ESPN (@espn) June 29, 2021
Serena Williams receives a standing ovation from the crowd at #Wimbledon Williams was forced to retire in the first round of after sustaining an apparent injury. pic.twitter.com/exFZxJJZGh
Williams led 3-1 before slipping and falling, apparently injuring her ankle. She tried to continue before falling once more and being forced to retire. The match was tied and ended at 3-all in the first set.
It marks back-to-back matches on Centre Court where a player slipped, got hurt and had to retire from the match. The previous match at Centre Court saw Adrian Mannarino sustain an injury against Roger Federer.
Williams is a seven-time singles champion at Wimbledon and was looking for her 24th Grand Slam. She had announced earlier in the week that she would be skipping the Olympics in Tokyo.
This story will be updated.