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Serena Williams has made the difficult decision to withdraw from next month’s Australian Open, admitting she is not where she needs to be physically to compete.
The athlete, who recently attended the premiere of ‘King Richard’ will not be participating in the highly anticipated 2022 tournament, as she announced on Wednesday after receiving advice from her medical team.
“I have decided to withdraw from this year’s Australian open,” Serena wrote, “While this is never an easy decision to make, I am not where I need to be physically to compete,” she shared.
Serena confessed that Melbourne is one of her favorite cities to visit, adding that she “looks forward to playing at the AO every year” and she “will miss seeing the fans,” however the beloved tennis star declared that she is “excited to return and compete” at her highest level.
Her recent withdrawal comes after she was forced to exit Wimbledon in June following a leg injury, later withdrawing from the U.S. Open in August, as she needed her “body to heal completely from a torn hamstring.”
Serena opened up about the injury during her November interview with Jimmy Kimmel, revealing her hamstring was “much better now” and detailing the moment she suffered the injury at Wimbledon.
“I went for a shot, and I just heard this noise, and I was like, ‘Oh, no,’“ however she kept going, adding “Okay, well let me just keep trying. And it was bad.“