Serena Williams on Wednesday decided to withdraw from the French Open tennis tournament due to injury. The 23-time Grand Slam champion felt a bit of discomfort during the warm-up and then she decided to withdraw.
39-year-old Serena has suffered a muscle injury from the back of the leg to the ankle below the knee. She was supposed to meet Svetlana Pironkova of Bulgaria in the second round of the French Open.
“The Achilles didn’t have enough time to heal after the US Open,” said Williams.
“I was struggling to walk and that is a tell-tale sign that I should try to recover.”
Serena’s injury implies that she will miss the action for the rest of 2020 with leaving the Australian Open in 2021 as her next chance to equal Margaret Court’s all-time majors record.
“I need four to six weeks of sitting and doing nothing,” she said. “It’s more than likely that I won’t play another tournament this year.”
