Serena Williams is taking herself out of the game, as she battles an achilles injury just before her scheduled match against Tsvetana Pironkova in the French Open.
According to CNN, Serena was hoping to win her 24th grand slam title, but after sustaining the injury in New York, Serena says she hasn’t recovered sufficiently enough for her to compete in Paris.
“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 I’m struggling to walk so that’s kindaof a telltale sign that I should try to recover,” Serena said.
Serena’s decision to withdraw will send Tsvetana straight through to the third round of the open.
“Definitely in the second set (of the first-round match) I felt like I needed to walk with a limo and that was no good,” Serena said. “I had to focus on walking straight so I wasn’t limping. I tried — always give 100% and everyone knows that — maybe even more than 100% if that’s possible.”
She continues saying, “I take solace in that. I think achilles is a real injury that you don’t want to play with because that is not good if it gets worse. I think it’s one of the worst.”
Serena’s next chance to match Margaret Court’s record of 24 major titles will be at the Australian Open In January 2021.
Although Serena hasn’t been on the court, Naomi Osaka has been keeping the black girl magic alive, as she recently won her second U.S. open title!
