Serena out of Wuhan, Beijing
Serena has announced that she will skip the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and the China Open to recover from an ongoing shoulder injury.
“I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open or the China Open due to continuing issues with my right shoulder,” Serena said in a statement. “I have been practising and playing but my shoulder is still not fit for tournament play.
“I am focused on getting ready to compete at the WTA Finals in Singapore.”
Williams has played just eight tournaments this season, winning two titles in Rome and at Wimbledon and finishing runner-up at the Australian Open (l. to Angelique Kerber), at Indian Wells (l. to Victoria Azarenka) and Roland Garros (l. to Garbine Muguruza).
Williams, whose three-year reign at the top of the rankings came to an end after her defeat to Karolina Pliskova in the US Open semi-finals, had no ranking points to defend for the rest of 2016.
However, she remains hopeful that she will be fit for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore on October 23. The five-time champion missed the event in 2015 after cutting her season short to heal – physically and mentally – after missing out on a calendar-year Grand Slam at last year’s US Open.
New world No.1 Kerber is the top seed at next week’s Wuhan Open, while Muguruza is the defending champion in Beijing.
- Join the tennishead CLUB and receive £250/$350 of FREE GEAR including ASICS Gel-Resolution 8 trainers, shorts, shirt & socks
- Keep up to date with the breaking news & tennis action at our tennis news section
- Win amazing prizes by entering our competitions
- Learn more about your favourite players including Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic
- Check out the latest tennis equipment with our tennis gear reviews
- Receive regular updates in our legendary free newsletter
- Read in depth features with stunning photography in tennishead magazine
- Can’t visit the tournaments you love? Check out our guide on how to watch tennis on TV
- Don’t miss a thing with our Live Scores service
- Follow tennishead on social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube
- EXCLUSIVE 5% DISCOUNT for all tennishead readers on tennis rackets, balls, clothing, shoes & accessories with All Things Tennis, our dedicated tennis gear partner