In 1998, 16-year-old Serena Williams retired from a third-round match at Wimbledon trailing Virginia Ruano Pascual 7-5, 4-1. With older sister Venus waiting in the fourth round, Serena won the fifth game of the second set but didn’t continue, citing a left calf injury early in the match.

Twenty-three years later, it happened again. Slipping on the moist grass on Centre Court, Serena suffered an upper right hamstring injury and retired against Aliaksandra Sasnovich at 3-all. It was only Serena’s second retirement from a Grand Slam match.

“I was heartbroken to have to withdraw today after injuring my right leg,” Serena said in a statement. “My love and gratitude are with the fans and the team who make being on Centre Court so meaningful.”

So, with the 23-time Grand Slam champion out of the draw, we’ll see what a suddenly Serena-less Wimbledon looks like.

“It’s very sad for me, honestly, when your opponent feels bad,” Sasnovich said. “She’s a great champion, and it’s sad story.”

Certainly, the top half of the draw – particularly the second quarter – looks more open. With the loss of No.6 seed Williams and No.5 Bianca Andreescu, all of Thursday’s 16 second-round matches bear watching.

Kerber streaking on grass

When the draw came out, it looked like there was a good chance Angelique Kerber, a three-time Grand Slam champion, might play Serena in the third round.

Kerber, the No.25 seed, dropped the first three games but came back to defeat Nina Stojanovic 6-4, 6-3 in the first round. She’ll meet Sara Sorribes Tormo on Thursday.

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Before winning the title a week ago in Bad Homburg, Kerber’s last tournament victory came at Wimbledon three years ago. She beat Serena in that final.

“I think this match will be always the most special one in my career,” Kerber told reporters. “Because of course playing against Serena, I played her twice in the [major] finals. The first one [Wimbledon 2016] I lost, and then I get the chance to play another final against her which I won.

“Always when I’m coming back, I have the pictures in my mind, the memories. So it will never go away in my mind.”

Sorribes Tormo, a 24-year-old Spaniard, defeated Ana Konjuh 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Sorribes Tormo and Kerber have yet to play.

Barty settling in

Ashleigh Barty defeated Carla Suarez Navarro in an emotional Wimbledon farewell 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-1. It was an awkward transition to grass for Barty, coming off a hip injury that forced her to retire from a second-round match at Roland Garros. Key statistic: 26 unforced errors in the second set – only two in the third.

Barty’s last appearance at Wimbledon – or any grass court for that matter –was nearly two years ago when she lost a fourth-round match to Alison Riske.

“Yeah, it has been a while,” Barty said. “It kind of felt like it hasn’t been so long, though. Grass-court tennis has always felt like it’s come quite naturally to me. It’s just about trying to go out there and play the best that I can on that day.

“I thought at times today I served well, was able to control the court. For all but one little hiccup, serving for the match, it was really good. I mean, we obviously go back and debrief and go through and think of ways that we can improve and be better, what we’ve learnt from that match. To be able to run away with that third set in the end, kind of get off the court pretty quickly, was really nice.”

Barty plays Anna Blinkova, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Timea Babos, in the second round. Blinkova, a 22-year-old Russian, is ranked No.89. The two have never played.

Heading into Wimbledon, Barty ranked first among WTA players in 2021 in titles (three), finals (four), aces (209) and Top 10 wins (six, tied with Jessica Pegula).

An older, better Gauff

Is Gauffmania about to sweep the All England Club for a second time?

Two years ago, Coco Gauff – at the age of 15 – blew into the fourth round. The BBC’s ratings for her later matches exceeded those of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokjovic.

Now she’s bigger, faster and smarter at 17 – and operating in a part of the draw vacated by Serena.

The No.20 seed, Gauff took care of British wildcard Francesca Jones 7-5, 6-4. Gauff’s second-round opponent is Elena Vesnina, a 7-5, 6-1 winner over Martina Trevisan. Vesnina, a 34-year-old Russian mother, has never played Gauff.

“Today I was really nervous going in, my first time back since everything happened in 2019,” Gauff said later. “Francesca, she came out on the court, she came swinging and playing really well. Just a few points here and there that were lucky to go my way.

“But I think today was a solid first-round performance for me.”

Luckiest of losers

It’s one thing to lose in qualifying and get the quick call when a player withdraws from the first round with an injury. But imagine getting that happy summons three days into the tournament.

That’s what happened to Astra Sharma and Tsvetana Pironkova – two accomplished players – Wednesday morning.

When Lesia Tsurenko pulled out, Pironkova was in. The 33-year-old mother from Bulgaria was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2010. Danka Kovinic’s withdrawal opened the door for Sharma, a 25-year-old Australian who won the Charleston 250 title, the first of her WTA career.

Both Sharma and Pironkova lost – to Kristyna Pliskova and Yulia Putintseva, respectively – but they emerged with a 48,000 euro check for their brief time on court.

Now we’ll see how momentum plays into things.

No.16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who lost to Barbora Krejcikova in the Roland Garros final, was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Ana Bogdan. She gets Pliskova, whom she beat the only time they played, earlier this year in Doha.

No.30 Paula Badosa, who won the Serbia Ladies Open, her first career title, and followed it up with a quarterfinals berth at the French Open, took down fellow Spaniard Aliona Bolsova. She faces Putintseva, whom she’s never played.

No.14 Krejcikova, the newly minted French Open champion, defeated Danish teenager Clara Tauson 6-3, 6-2 to set up a date with Andrea Petkovic. The German veteran was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Jasmine Paolini. They have never met.

Cornet finds her form

With a beautiful running backhand crosscourt flick lob, Alize Cornet’s momentum took her off the court and she waited, waited to see if it was good. It was – quite good, actually – and she had beaten No.5 seed Bianca Andreescu for the second time in two weeks.

The score was 6-2, 6-1, and it was a clinic in grass-court tennis. Cornet moved efficiently and avoided mistakes; she had only seven unforced errors, 27 fewer than Andreescu.

“I tried to stay positive the whole match,” Andreescu said afterward. “I tried to figure it out how I can play her better. But honestly, she played really well. She was taking control from the start. She served better today than in our last match, too.”

Cornet has never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon, or any Grand Slam for that matter, and the 31-year-old Frenchwoman had gone out in the first round her past three tries at the All England Club.

Next up: Ajla Tomljanovic, a 6-2, 7-6 (5) winner over Greet Minnen. The head-to-head is 2-1 Cornet, including a three-set win in this year’s Melbourne 500.

It’s been a harrowing season for Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion. She retired from the Miami final with an ankle injury, pulled out of the Strasbourg quarterfinals with an abdominal injury and lost in the first round at Roland Garros. Her grass season ends with a 1-3 record.

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No. 3 seed Svitolina on track

The last time she visited the All England Club, Elina Svitolina made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Simona Halep.

After a fast start Wednesday, there was a second-set dip, but Svitolina prevailed to beat Alison Van Uytvanck 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. She’ll next face Magda Linette, a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 winner over Amanda Anisimova.

Svitolina has won all four of their previous sets – at Roland Garros in 2017 and three years later in Strasbourg – although Linette won at least four games in each of them.

Svitolina is the highest seed (No.3) left in a loaded the second quarter that includes Gauff, Kerber, Belinda Bencic and Pavlyuchenkova.

Nine years ago, Svitolina was a junior finalist, falling to Eugenie Bouchard.

After the match, Svitolina was asked three press conference questions about tennis – and four about soccer. Her Ukraine team beat Sweden in the Euro 2020 round of 16 to advance to the Saturday quarterfinal match against England.

Would she rather be on Centre Court or watch the game?

“That’s a very tricky question,” Svitolina answered. “I would prefer to play on Centre Court and then Ukraine beat England, that’s the ideal. I would prefer maybe to play in this [earlier] time, and then Ukraine just take care of the business.”

Other notable matches

  • Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who advanced when Serena Williams retired, faces Nao Hibino, a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 winner over Bernarda Pera. Hibino won their only match six years ago in Hong Kong.
  • Marta Kostyuk, a winner over No.17 Kiki Bertens in her last Wimbledon, meets Anastasija Sevastova.
  • Katerina Siniakova, who beat lucky loser Wang Yafan 6-1, 6-0, meets CoCo Vandeweghe, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over qualifier Olga Govortsova.
  • No.12 Victoria Azarenka plays Sorana Cirstea, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Samantha Murray Sharan. Azarenka was a 6-1, 6-3 victor over Kateryna Kozlova.
  • Kaja Juvan upset No.9 Belinda Bencic – the fourth Top 10 seed ousted – 6-3, 6-3. Next up: Clara Burel, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Ellen Perez.
  • No.31 Daria Kasatkina, a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Patricia Maria Tig, faces 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Leylah Fernandez 6-1, 6-2.