Serena Williams has stunned the tennis world after announcing her withdrawal from next week’s US Open.
The 23-time grand slam champion made the heartbreaking announcement on Wednesday night, saying she hasn’t fully recovered from a hamstring injury.
The former World No.1 said the injury had not completely healed after she was forced to retire hurt in the first round at Wimbledon
“After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the US Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring,” Williams wrote in a statement on Instagram.
“New York is one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favourite places to play – I’ll miss seeing the fans but will be cheering everyone from afar.”
Serena Williams has stunned the tennis world after announcing her withdrawal from next week’s US Open.
The 23-time grand slam champion made the heartbreaking announcement on Wednesday night, saying she hasn’t fully recovered from a hamstring injury.
The former World No.1 said the injury had not completely healed after she was forced to retire hurt in the first round at Wimbledon.
“After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the US Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring,” Williams wrote in a statement on Instagram.
“New York is one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favourite places to play – I’ll miss seeing the fans but will be cheering everyone from afar.”
Williams is a six-time winner at the US Open and finished runner-up in 2018 and 2019.
She missed last week’s event in Cincinnati in a bid to get fit for Flushing Meadows and said she hoped “to be back on the court very soon”.
“We took medical advice and the medical advice was clear — if you play, you take a big risk,” her coach Patrick Mouratoglou told the website Tennis Majors.
“Then we had to discuss a little as a team. Serena always feels like she’s giving up if she doesn’t play. It’s inside her.
“We had to reason her a little, but anyway, the medical advice had a big part. In that sense it was a team decision.”
