LONDON (Reuters) - There were plenty of records for Roger Federer to savour on Tuesday as he began his pursuit of a record eighth Wimbledon title, but he was denied a chance to celebrate them in style as his first round match ended abruptly midway through the second set. Trailing 3-6 0-3 30-30, Alexandr Dolgopolov drew a chorus of dejected sighs on Centre Court as he walked up to the net to shake hands with Federer. It was the second successive anticlimactic ending on tennis's most famous stage after Novak Djokovic's opponent, Martin Klizan also called it quits midway through their second set. Federer's encounter against Ukrainian Dolgopolov lasted a mere 43 minutes. By simply playing the first point, Federer also drew level with Fabrice Santoro's professional era record of playing in a 70th grand slam tournament.

Source: The Star July 04, 2017 17:03 UTC