Serena Williams has announced her withdrawal from the US Open.
Gatekeepers News reports that 23 times grand slam winner, Serena Williams says she will not take part in this year’s US Open as a result of a torn hamstring.
Williams after injuring her right leg in the first set of her first-round match at Wimbledon in late June hasn’t competed since.
The American announced her decision to pull out of the Grand Slam tournament via a social media post.
The soon-to-be 40 tennis star, has, therefore, joined Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Dominic Thiem in sitting out the competition at Flushing Meadows, where play has been scheduled to commence next Monday. The draw for the tournament will hold on Thursday.
The news has started raising questions about the future of competition without them.
This will be the first major tournament since 1997 without any of Williams, Federer, or Nadal in the singles brackets.
Williams made her first Grand Slam at the 1998 Australian Open, Federer made his the following year while Nadal in 2003.
Williams with her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, only has one player in tennis history who owns more – Margaret Court with 24.
Williams wrote on Wednesday, “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.”
She ended the post with, “I’ll see you soon.”
Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, also posted on social media, saying, “We’ve done everything we could,” adding that “It is heartbreaking, but this is the only possible decision.”
