Roger Federer, the No. 6 seed of the tournament, survived a massive scare against Adrian Mannarino before advancing to the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday when the Frenchman retired with a knee injury after slipping on the grass court.
The match was poised at 6-4, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-2 with the eight-time Wimbledon champion forcing a fifth set before Mannarino, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday on Tuesday, decided he could not continue.
Federer was serving with a 4-2 lead in the fourth set when the 41st-ranked Mannarino slipped while attempting a return and twisted his right knee.
The Frenchman received medical attention on Centre Court and limped back to complete the set before shaking hands with Federer, who now has a 7-0 head-to-head record against him.
Federer, at 39, is the oldest man in the draw at this year’s grass-court Grand Slam. He will meet either Frenchman Richard Gasquet or Yuichi Sugita of Japan for a place in the third round.
Updated odds to win Wimbledon 2021
- Novak Djokovic (-170)
- Daniil Medvedev (+700)
- Matteo Berrettini (+1200)
- Roger Federer (+1400)
- Alexander Zverev (+2100)
- Andrey Rublev (+3800)
- Andy Murray (+5500)
- Felix Auger Aliassime (+5500)
- Marin Cilic (+5500)
- Aslan Karatsev (+7000)
- Denis Shapovalov (+7000)
- Nick Kyrgios (+7000)
- Frances Tiafoe (+8000)
- Lorenzo Musetti (+8500)
- Roberto Bautista Agut (+8500)
- Ugo Humbert (+8500)
Odds courtesy of FanDuel
