Venus Williams was scheduled to make her first Roland Garros appearance since 2021.
Williams played her first clay court match in five years at the Madrid Open, where she suffered her 11th consecutive loss in singles.
However, the American did return to winning ways in doubles with Katie Boulter, who helped Williams achieve a ranking milestone.
Williams was also scheduled to play doubles with Hailey Baptiste at Roland Garros, but that match will no longer go ahead.
Venus Williams and Hailey Baptiste withdraw from Roland Garros doubles
Williams did not receive a wildcard for the singles tournament at Roland Garros this year, but was able to enter the doubles draw directly through ranking alongside Baptiste.
This would have been the second time Williams and Baptiste would have played together, having reached the quarterfinals of the Washington Open last year.
It’s the end of the 2026 season… How many matches has Venus Williams won this year? Where is she ranked? Let us know in the comments👇
However, it has now been confirmed that they will no longer play at Roland Garros after Baptiste suffered a horrible injury in her latest singles match.
During the first set of her second round singles match against Xiyu Wang, Baptiste attempted to hit a jumping forehand, before landing awkwardly on her left leg.
Baptiste proceeded to scream out in pain and was subsequently forced to retire from the match, before being taken off the court in a wheelchair.
It is not yet clear as to exactly how severe the injury is for Baptiste, but as expected she has now been forced to withdraw from the doubles tournament alongside Williams, who will not return to the Roland Garros match courts this year.
What is next for Venus Williams?
Williams’ Roland Garros has obviously not gone as planned, leaving her upcoming plans up in the air.
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion has played a much fuller schedule than many expected this year, with Williams now likely to return for the grass court season after Roland Garros.
Venus may even be joined by her younger sister, with Serena Williams rumored to have requested wildcards for the grass court season.
Serena Williams will go further than Coco Gauff at Wimbledon – Prove me wrong!
The last time that Venus played on grass was at Wimbledon in 2023, where she suffered an injury of her own after slipping during her match against Elina Svitolina and having issues with her right knee.
It has been even longer since Venus and Serena played together at Wimbledon in 2016, where they won their sixth doubles title together at the grass court major.
