Serena Williams was forced to retire from her first round match at Wimbledon on Tuesday after appearing to injure her left ankle.

The seven-time former Wimbledon singles champion slipped while leading 3-1 in the opening set against Aliaksandra Sasnovich and left the court for medical treatment after going on to lose the game.

Williams returned and tried to play through the pain and visible emotion, but the sixth seed fell to the ground moments later and decided to retire.

A tearful Williams left the court to a huge ovation from the crowd, while Sasnovich of Belarus headed into the second round.