Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has lost in the first round of her 24th appearance at the All England Club.
Williams fell to the ground at Centre Court early on against Elina Svitolina, and her right knee was treated twice by a trainer, including getting taped up during a medical timeout after the second set.
The 43-year-old American kept playing but could not manage to overcome 2019 Wimbledon semifinalist Svitolina in a 6-4, 6-3 defeat on Monday at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.
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Williams was the oldest player in this year’s field and the fourth-oldest to compete in the main draw at Wimbledon.
Svitolina was only two when Williams made her Wimbledon debut in 1997 and just five when Williams won the event for the first time.
Rain came down earlier and the Centre Court roof was closed, before groundskeepers at brought out the leaf blowers.
Several workers using the hand-held machines paced up and down the hallowed grass in the main stadium to dry the ground from the sudden shower that disrupted play on all courts.
Watch Wimbledon 2023 live and free on 9now. Alternatively, you can stream every match live, ad-free and on demand on Stan Sport, with centre court in 4K UHD.
Novak Djokovic, the defending champion who was playing Pedro Cachin in the stadium at the time the rain started, clapped when he saw the workers emerge with their leaf blowers.
He had been trying to dry the grass on his own, waving his white towel over some spots that seemed to be particularly soaked.
“Yes, blow, blow. Blow the air. We need everybody’s help,” Djokovic looked up to his box and joked.
The delay lasted more than an hour, with Djokovic in the lead after winning the first set 6-3. The roof, installed over Centre Court in 2009, was reopened before play resumed.
Djokovic won 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
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