Federer survives huge scare
London, UK - Roger Federer survived a huge scare to reach the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday when French opponent Adrian Mannarino was forced to retire injured at the start of the fifth 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 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.
Just five weeks shy of his 40th birthday, Federer faces either Richard Gasquet or Yuichi Sugita for a place in the last-32.
Earlier, Australia's Ashleigh Barty overcame a mid-match wobble to reach the second round as rain once again halted play on the outside courts on Tuesday. Barty came through 6-1, 6-7 (1/7), 6-1 against Carla Suarez Navarro in a match filled with emotion on Centre Court, whose roof ensured the match could be finished.
However, 18 first round matches were pushed back to Wednesday with men's doubles matches cut to best-of-three sets in the first two rounds.
Barty's Spanish opponent made sure her 11th and final appearance at The Championships went the distance just months after returning from a winning fight against cancer.
Barty is bidding to add the senior singles Wimbledon title to her 2011 junior crown on the 50th anniversary of her fellow indigenous Australian's Evonne Goolagong Cawley's first title.
Venus Williams had some worrying moments in her match against Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania. However, the five-time Wimbledon singles champion, playing in her 90th Grand Slam, eventually came through 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Australian men's No 1 Alex de Minaur lost in four sets to Sebastian Korda, two days after the victor's sister Nelly won her first golf major. Korda hit ten aces and 44 winners to defeat De Minaur 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5). France's Benoit Paire did not escape the ire of the match umpire in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 defeat by Diego Schwartzman. He received a warning from the umpire for not trying as two sets down overnight he lost the third 6-0 in just 15 minutes.