Serena Williams Withdraws From French Open Due To Achilles Injury
Ahead of her second-round match against Tsvetana Pironkova this Wednesday, Serena Williams pulled out of the French Open due to an Achilles injury.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion went into the tournament managing an Achilles problem that she sustained at the US Open and was not been able to recover sufficiently after her 7-6 (7-2) 6-0 first-round victory over Kristie Ahn. The sudden announcement came just an hour before the 39-year-old tennis star was set to head out onto Court Philippe Chatrier to face Tsvetana Pironkova.
She said she tried warming up for the match but knew she wasn’t able to compete. She then spoke to coach Patrick Mouratoglou and, she said, “We kind of both thought about it and we decided it wasn’t the best for me to try and play today.”
“I was able to get it somewhat better but just looking long-term at this tournament — ‘will I be able to get through enough matches?’ — and so for me, I don’t think I could and struggling to walk so that’s kind of a telltale sign that I should try to recover,” she told reporters Wednesday.
As CNN notes, Williams’ withdrawal means her next opportunity to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 majors will be the Australian Open, which will begin in January.
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