American great Serena Williams broke down in tears as her latest attempt for an elusive record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title was cruelly ended by injury.
Serena Williams on court at Wimbledon Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Williams started against Belarusian world number 100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich with heavy strapping on her right thigh and then slipped in the fifth game.
The 39-year-old went down again in the seventh game and then retired after struggling to get to her feet.
"I'm so sad for Serena. She is a great champion," said Sasnovich.
"It happens sometimes in tennis, but all the best to her."
Williams, seeded sixth, seemed to do the damage when she rocked backwards on the baseline before unleashing a forehand back to her opponent.
After going off court for treatment, she returned with a heavy limp and tried to continue before it soon became apparent she would be unable to.
Tears filled her eyes as Williams thanked the crowd, who had been trying to encourage her, for their support.
The retirement came less than an hour after Centre Court watched France's Adrian Mannarino also have to retire from his match against Roger Federer.
The match was poised at 6-4 6-7(3) 3-6 6-2 with the eight-times Wimbledon champion forcing a fifth set before Mannarino, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday, 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 the oldest man in the draw at this year's grasscourt Grand Slam, will meet either Frenchman Richard Gasquet or Yuichi Sugita of Japan for a place in the third round.
World number eight ranked Roger Federer Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Women's top seed Ash Barty cleared a tricky opening hurdle as she beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-7 6-1 in a first-round match tailor-made for tennis purists.
The Australian, sporting a 1970s-inspired outfit paying homage to compatriot Evonne Goolagong's trailblazing first Wimbledon title 50 years ago, played beautifully for two sets in her first grasscourt match for two years.
But Spaniard Suarez Navarro, who in April announced she had been given the all-clear following treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer, played a full part in an absorbing spectacle under the Centre Court's sliding roof.
Five-times champion Venus Williams, playing as a wildcard in her 23rd Wimbledon, showed vintage form to beat Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu 7-5 4-6 6-3 and reach the second round.
The oldest woman in the draw at 41, Williams had not won a match since reaching the second round at the Australian Open in February but showed she was far from finished on her return to a favourite place.
In the men's draw German fourth seed Alexander Zverev eased through against Dutch qualifier Tallon Griekspoor, while Benoit Paire was warned for lack of effort and heckled by the crowd during a 6-3 6-4 6-0 defeat by Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
The bearded Frenchman showed no appetite to engage in a desultory final set against the ninth seed, swatting the ball away and rattling through his serves like a man in a hurry to catch a plane.
With the score at 5-0 and 30-0, Paire was handed a code violation by umpire Mohamed Lahyani for unsporting conduct -- triggering a heated response.
-Reuters/BBC
