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Serena Williams will no longer compete in this year’s Wimbledon doubles draw alongside her sister, Venus Williams.
“I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles,” Serena, 44, announced via Instagram on Saturday, July 4, alongside a video showing the athlete walking tenderly on her nearly fully-bandaged right leg. “Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside @venuswilliams once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately my knee just isn’t ready to compete.”
The tennis star continued, “I’m especially grateful to tournament director, Jamie Baker, and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to play here. Thank you to the fans for your incredible support and for making this comeback so meaningful…All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you…”
Serena returned to tennis back in June, coming out or retirement to team up with Victoria Mboko in a doubles match against Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez. (Mboko, 19, suffered an injury that forced the pair to withdraw.)
“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement to The Athletic on June 1. “Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments in my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”
In her highly anticipated lead-up to Wimbledon, Serena also competed at the Berlin Open alongside Karolina Muchova. (The pair ultimately lost to Guiliana Olmos and Erin Routliffe 6-4, 6-4.)
Serena then made her Wimbledon return in her first singles match in nearly four years against Maya Joint, at which point she tweaked her knee late in the first set of the much-awaited match. (Joint ultimately won the match 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.)
“It fels so good to be back on the grass at @wimbledon,” she wrote via Instagram following her first-round loss. “I’m incredibly thankful for the wild card — and even more grateful my daughters got to see that it’s never too late to chase something you love.”
In addition to sharing a video of the athlete struggling to walk on her right knee, Serena also posted photographs of medical syringes filled with fluid taken from her knee and snapshots of what appeared to be a small part of her rehab process.
“The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match…yikes!” Serena continued in the caption. “The good news is my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I just wasn’t able to get it ready for doubles.”
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