Serena Williams won’t add another French Open title to her trophy cabinet, at least not in 2018. The 36-year-old announced on Monday that she has pulled out of the tournament due to a chest muscle injury. Williams announced her decision shortly before she was scheduled to play Maria Sharapova in the fourth round.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” – Williams told reporters on Monday. “But also, I made a promise to myself and to my coach and to my team that if I’m not at least 60 percent or 50 percent, then I probably shouldn’t play.“
Williams explained that she will get an MRI and do further tests in order to figure out how severe the injury is and how it will affect her tennis season.
“The fact that I physically can’t serve at all is a good indication that maybe I should just go back to the drawing board and stay positive, and try to get better and not get it to a point where it could be a lot worse.” – she added.
2018 French Open was the first Grand Slam tournament Serena Williams participated in since January 2017, when she won Australian Open. After the tournament, Williams revealed she was already eight-weeks pregnant and took a break from tennis. After giving birth to her daughter in September 2017, she made her return to tennis in late December of the same year, playing an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi.
Serena Williams currently has 23 Grand Slam titles, which represent the most for all tennis players in the modern era. When it comes to all-time ranking, she is second to Margaret Court, who has 24.
