- Eight-time champion through 6-4, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-2 ret
- Mannarino forced to pull out with injury after slip
Each year that Roger Federer returns to Wimbledon, the scene of eight of his grand slam titles and on the surface that has slotted so snugly into his game for two decades, he does so with the aim of winning the title once more. He may have arrived with similar intentions, but there are more elementary concerns these days. After two knee surgeries and over a year out of competition, he is still seeking the simple goal of feeling and playing like himself again after difficult months back on tour.
Under the Centre Court roof and against a quick-witted veteran opponent who knows his way around a grass court, those sensations did not quite arise even though he escaped. Federer reached the second round after Adrian Mannarino was forced to retire following a bad slip, the scoreline 6-4, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-2 ret.
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