Serena Williams pulls out of Wimbledon doubles with knee injury
Williams and her sister Venus were scheduled to play in the first round on Saturday, but Serena announced a few hours before the match that her knee had not recovered enough to play.
“I’m heartbroken to have to pull out of the doubles,” the 44-year-old actress said on Instagram.
Serena, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, was injured during her defeat against Australian Maya Joint in the Wimbledon singles first round on Tuesday.
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This was his first singles match since the 2022 US Open after a four-year retirement.
The sisters, six-time Wimbledon doubles winners, were scheduled to face Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio after being granted wildcard entry to the event. However, no venues were named in the order of play by tournament organisers, raising the possibility that seven-time Wimbledon singles winner Serena would withdraw.
To the disappointment of her fans, Serena did just that, revealing that fluid in her injured knee made it impossible for her to continue her sensational return to Wimbledon.
“It was a gift to return to compete again and the opportunity to play alongside Venus once again meant the world to me,” he said.
“I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately my knee is not ready to compete.
“The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match…no!”
Serena made a surprising return to tennis last month when she played doubles with Canada’s Victoria Mboko at the Queen’s Club.
However, Mboko’s injury curtailed Williams’ run in the Wimbledon warm-up event after the pair won their first match.
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Serena was then eliminated by Carolina Muchova in the first round of the Berlin doubles tournament and then accepted Wimbledon’s offer for a singles wild card last week.
Serena was motivated by a desire to play in front of her two younger daughters, Olympia and Adira, but they saw their mother play in just one match at Wimbledon.
On a crowded Center Court, Serena fought her way to a three-set defeat against Joint, a player 24 years younger than the American.
His absence from the post-match press conference and his manager later saying it was due to a knee injury led to speculation that he would have to leave the doubles.
In confirming his withdrawal, Williams posted images of him limping around with a heavy bandage, as well as images of some syringes filled with liquid.
“The good news is that my knee never swelled or collected that much fluid again. The bad news was that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t prepare my knee for doubles,” he said.
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“I am particularly grateful to tournament director Jamie Baker and the entire tournament staff for giving me every opportunity to play here.”
While it’s unclear how long Serena’s comeback tour will last, questions will now be asked about her ability to bounce back at the US Open later this year.
Hinting that he’s not done yet, Williams said: “Thank you to the fans for your incredible support and making this comeback so meaningful. All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you…”
