Serena Williams has withdrawn from Wimbledon doubles with Venus Williams.
The 44-year-old played her first singles match since 2022 at Wimbledon this year, losing to Maya Joint.
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Serena Williams is OUT of the Wimbledon singles event…
Suffering a knee injury during the match, Wimbledon pushed back Williams’ first-round doubles match to give her every chance to recover.
Unable to do so, Williams has now confirmed her withdrawal on social media.
Serena Williams tells fans to ‘stay tuned to a city near you’ after withdrawing from Wimbledon
Williams posted the following message on Instagram as she announced her withdrawal from the Wimbledon doubles event.
“I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles,” she said.
“Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside Venus Williams once more meant the world to me.
“I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately, my knee just isn’t ready to compete.
“I’m especially grateful to the tournament director, Jamie Baker, and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to play here. Thank you to the fans for your incredible support and for making this comeback so meaningful.
“All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you.”
Williams has kept her cards close to her chest in terms of what the future of her comeback may hold, but that last line certainly implies she isn’t done yet.
If the knee injury isn’t too severe, and you would assume it isn’t, given she only withdrew from doubles at the last-minute, she could well feature at some of the upcoming hard-court events in North America.
The WTA 500 event in Washington, DC, could be her first destination, where her sister has been given a wild card.
With several wild cards still up for grabs, perhaps Williams will decide to make her American return in the nation’s capital.
She could, however, wait until the Canadian Open or Cincinnati Open to return at the WTA 1000 level.
Williams is, unsurprisingly, a former champion at both events and would be a big addition to their respective line-ups.
However, the most likely destination for Williams’ North American return is, of course, the US Open.
Many thought she had played the final match of her career at Flushing Meadows four years ago, when she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic on Arthur Ashe Stadium
Now back amongst the action, playing one more US Open is surely too good an opportunity for Williams to turn down.
Some may have feared that Williams’ injury setback would have put her off an extended comeback, but they will have had some of those fears put to bed reading the second part of her statement.
“The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match… Yikes!” she said.
“The good news is my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again.
“The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I just wasn’t able to get it ready for doubles.”
Williams should be back on the court before too long, but Wimbledon doubles simply wasn’t to be.
Did Wimbledon make the right call by delaying Serena Williams’ doubles match?
All first-round doubles matches were supposed to have been completed by the end of play on Friday, July 3.
However, an exception was made by the All England Club to give Williams every chance of recovering in time to play.
They were well within their rights to make such a decision, although it didn’t go down well with everyone.
Several Facebook fans disagreed with the preferential treatment Williams received.
“The All England Lawn Tennis Club and the Wimbledon hierarchy are absolutely disgusting. The Serena and Venus Williams doubles match scheduled for Friday, July 3rd, somehow mysteriously gets moved not just once but twice from Friday, July 3rd, to Saturday, July 4th. Would any other doubles couple get such special treatment if one of them had a tweaked knee?” asked one fan.
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She skipped her post-match press conference and didn't have the warmest handshake with Maya Joint…
“Gee, it would sure be nice if we treated and applied the rules to everyone in the same way, no matter who you are, but I guess that would only happen in a perfect world,” added another.
However, some fans were happy to see Wimbledon favouring Williams.
“For doubles? If there’s a way to get people to watch doubles, then yes you do it. Depending on the type of knee injury though, it may not help,” said one fan.
“Yes, she deserves a wild card based on her lifetime accomplishments in tennis,” added another fan.
The decision certainly divided opinion, although if anyone deserves preferential treatment, it’s Williams.
