This archive report was first published on 30 June 2021.
On the second day of the 2021 Wimbledon tournament, several players were forced to withdraw due to injuries, causing a stir among the tennis community.
As reported by AFP, Roger Federer expressed his thoughts on the situation, stating, "He was the better player, he could have won, I got a bit lucky." This was after Adrian Mannarino was forced to withdraw injured with their first-round match level at two sets each.
Federer also reacted to the news that Serena Williams had been forced to retire injured after falling in the same place as Mannarino on Centre Court, saying, "This is obviously terrible that it's back-to-back matches and it hits Serena as well. Oh, my God, I can't believe it."
Meanwhile, an angry fan was heard shouting at France's Benoit Paire, who was handed a code violation for not trying in his straight-sets loss to Argentina's Diego Schwartzman. The fan exclaimed, "You're wasting everybody's time."
Paire defended himself, saying, "I took a warning for not trying at 5-0, 30-0 in the third set and we have only been playing for 15 minutes. I have the right to miss two returns in a row. I think it's ridiculous."
Sebastian Korda, who marked his Wimbledon debut with victory over Alex de Minaur, shared his thoughts on the tournament, saying, "I'm here doing what I want to do. There's no pressure, there's a whole lot worse things happening in the world right now."
On Twitter, Nick Kyrgios reacted to Gael Monfils hitting a 'tweener' to win a point against Christopher O'Connell, saying, "This is filthy."
Alexander Zverev was keen to finish his press conference so he could watch Germany play and eventually lose to England in Euro 2020, saying, "You guys have about 10 more minutes with me and then I've got to leave."
Coco Gauff gave nothing away on plans for the US doubles pairings at the Olympics, saying, "I'm not allowed to say. I was told that I'm not allowed to say. You guys can keep yourselves on your toes."
Lastly, Nick Kyrgios was heard saying to himself courtside in his match against Ugo Humbert, "It's a joke. It's so slow, this is not a grass court."
