London: Tennis great Serena Williams limped out of Wimbledon in tears on Tuesday after her latest bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles crown ended in injury.
The American sixth seed and seven-times Wimbledon winner was clearly in pain on a slippery Centre Court and sought treatment while 3-2 up in her first round match against unseeded Belarussian Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Williams returned after a lengthy break but the distress was evident.
She grimaced and wiped away tears before preparing to serve at 3-3 after Sasnovich had pulled back from 3-1 down.
The 39-year-old, who had started the match with strapping on her right thigh, then let out a shriek and sank kneeling to the grass sobbing, before being helped off the court with an apparent ankle injury.
“Brutal for @serenawilliams but centre court is extremely slippy out there. Not easy to move out there,” Britain’s Andy Murray said on Twitter.
Sasnovich, who practised her serve while Williams was getting treatment, commiserated with an opponent who had never gone out in the first round at Wimbledon in her previous 19 visits.
“I’m so sad for Serena, she’s a great champion,” said the world number 100. “It happens sometimes.”
