Sports
0

Serena Williams Pulls Out of Australian Open

Serena Williams Pulls Out of Australian Open
Serena Williams Pulls Out of Australian Open

Serena Williams reluctantly pulled out of this year’s Australian Open on Friday, the American saying that while she was close to regaining full fitness after giving birth to her first child in September, she was not fully ready to defend her title.

The 36-year-old was eight weeks pregnant last year when she triumphed for a seventh time at Melbourne Park to claim an Open-era record 23rd grand slam title and then took the rest of the year off before giving birth to a daughter, Reuters reported.

She has played just once in public since, losing to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi last week, but was still hopeful of making a remarkable return at the Australian Open until she admitted defeat a week ahead of the event.

“My coach and team always said ‘only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way’. I can compete - but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time,” Williams said in a statement.

Williams, whose grand slam tally is just one shy of the all-time record held by Australian Margaret Court, said she was disappointed to withdraw but looked forward to returning in the future.

“After competing in Abu Dhabi I realized that although I am super close, I’m not where I personally want to be,” Williams added. “With that being said, and even though I am disappointed about it, I’ve decided not to compete in the Australian Open this year.”

Williams is the latest big name to withdraw from the year’s opening grand slam, which will be played from Jan. 15-28, with Britain’s Andy Murray and Japan’s Kei Nishikori having already said they would not compete.

There is also uncertainty over whether former champions Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Rafa Nadal will be fit to take to the court.

Add new comment

Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints

Financialtribune.com