Roger Federer splits four sets with Adrian Mannarino, but escapes first round at Wimbledon after Frenchman's Centre Court fall

WATCH: After suffering an injury, Adrian Mannarino is unable to continue playing after four sets.

All eyes were on Roger Federer in SW19 on Tuesday, and not just because rain suspended all but two matches around the grounds as the 39-year-old took Centre Court. There was concern about what this Wimbledon could ultimately mean for Federer, the eight-time champion whose desire to win the tournament remains unquestioned, so much that he withdrew from Roland Garros after his third-round win in order to save his body for the All England Club. But after a relatively noncompetitive three-set, second-round loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime in Halle a fortnight ago, the Swiss' legion of fans hoped that "save his body" meant preserving stamina for a deep run—not simply to ensure that he'd show up to The Championships, but as a shell of the player we knew.

We saw both Federers at times today. He broke serve late to win the first set, a tradition akin to strawberries and cream at this venerable venue. He raced out to a 4-1 advantage in the fourth, inspiring Internet paeans:

But he was also in a fourth set, in the first round—in largest part to his opponent, Adrian Mannarino, whose crafty and at times unpredictable shotmaking forced Federer to hit shots we both expected and questioned. Yet for large stretches of this match, Federer's foot speed was back home with Mirka and their four children, and his forehand was as rusty as we've seen it, at least at this event.

This match recalled another Federer first-rounder at Wimbledon: 11 years ago, against Alejandro Falla. In that contest, Federer dropped the first two sets against a player no one expected to be in a winning position—much like Mannarino, a fine grass-court player, but one toting an 0-6 record against the 20-time Grand Slam champion. The Frenchman won a second-set tiebreaker, took a 2-0 lead in the third set—and won it even after giving the break advantage back—and earned a break point in the first game of the fourth.

Like the Falla match, Federer won after four sets. In that one, he didn't surrender a game to his Colombian challenger in the decider. In this one, Mannarino also didn't get on the scoreboard in the fifth—because there wasn't one. An unlucky slip on the turf led to a horribly unfortunate Mannarino injury, one that left him barely able to serve while trailing 5-2 in the fourth set, and which soon forced him to stop playing entirely.

"It's awful, it shows that one shot can change the outcome of a match, a season, a career," said Federer, who could have also been talking about his missed championship points against Novak Djokovic the last time he stood on Centre Court.

"I wish him all the best, I hope he recovers quickly so we can see him on the court. He could have won the match at the end, obviously he was the better player. I definitely got a bit lucky."

We will have additional coverage on Federer's 6-4, 6-7 (3), 3-6, 6-2 win shortly.