LONDON [UK]: Swiss tennis maestro, Roger Federer was all praise for his rival Adrian Mannarino after the first-round victory as the Frenchman took an unfortunate slip in the fourth set behind the baseline and was eventually unable to continue at the centre court in the ongoing Wimbledon Championship.
Federer advanced 6-4, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-2 after his opponent retired with a knee injury. The sixth seed, who is working his way back to form after undergoing knee surgeries last year, sympathised with Mannarino in his post-match press conference.
“It is awful,” Wimbledon’s official website quoted Federer, who had not lost in the first round of a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2002. “It shows that one shot can change the outcome of a match, a season a career, so I wish him all the best. I hope he recovers quickly so we can see him back on the courts because he could have won the match at the end. He was the better player. I definitely got a bit lucky but who cares about that – I wish him all the best.”
Adrian Mannarino, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday by playing on centre court against the greatest Wimbledon champion of all time, was in the driving seat until that unfortunate moment in the fourth set.
Federer ran through the first set by winning 22 of 26 service points, completing the 39-minute opener with a backhand winner. But the unorthodox nature of Mannarino’s game meant that he never let the Swiss settle into his match rhythm as he levelled up against the star player after a dominant second-set tie-break.
Mannarino stunned Federer in the third set when he won an easy game but the Grand Slam champion won the fourth set to stage a comeback and was finally given a walkover as he reached the second round of the tournament.
Federer in his post-match conference also gave a shoutout to his country’s football team after they advanced to the quarter-finals of the European Championships.
20 times majors champion admitted that he does not often watch football matches – apart from his beloved FC Basel – but he was glued to the screen like any other fan as the Swiss side defeated the world champions France 5-4 after a dramatic penalty shootout.
“I just thought they fought super well. With the situation of being up 1-0, missing the penalty, then everything changing within half an hour, it would have been so easy just to let go,” ATP Tour quoted Federer as saying. “I was really proud of the way they fought.” (AGENCY)
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