According to Sky Sports, Serena Williams has had to withdraw from the French Open ahead of her second-round match against Tsvetana Pironkova due to an Achilles injury.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion was scheduled to meet Pironkova on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday morning (30 September 2020) but pulled out ahead of the contest.
Williams went into the tournament managing an Achilles injury that she sustained at the US Open and was not been able to recover quickly enough after her 7-6 (7-2) 6-0 first-round victory over Kristie Ahn.
The 39 year old took to court for her warm-up but quickly realised that she would not be able to compete.
“After I warmed up – it was a very short warm-up – I talked to my coach and I was like, ‘What do you think?’,” Williams said.
“We both thought about it and we really realised that it likely wasn’t the best for me to play today.
Williams added, “I love playing in Paris, I really wanted to give an effort here. My Achilles didn’t have time to properly heal. I’m struggling to walk so that’s kind of a tell-tale sign that I should try to recover.”
She expects that her rehabilitation time will be around four to six weeks, starting with at least two weeks of complete rest.
Source: Sky Sports.
Image credit: Roland-Garros.
