Serena Williams forced to bring Wimbledon comeback to premature end
· Yahoo Sports
Serena Williams’ Wimbledon comeback has been brought to a premature end after the 44-year-old was forced to withdraw from her first-round doubles match with sister Venus Williams due to a knee injury.
The 23-time grand slam champion “tweaked” her right knee during her first singles match in four years on Tuesday night,putting her involvement in the doubles in major doubt after a thrilling three-set defeat to Maya Joint under the roof on Centre Court.
Visit asg-reflektory.pl for more information.
The Williams sisters have won six Wimbledon doubles titles and, with a combined age of 90, the wildcard pair had been scheduled to play the the unseeded South American duo Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra at some point on Saturday.
Serena Williams has withdrawn from her doubles comeback with Venus Williams (PA)But Serena has now confirmed that she will be unable to compete.
In a statement released by her agent, Williams was said to be “doing everything she can to be ready” for her doubles match with Venus. She was able to leave the All England Club “unaided” after she was excused from her post-match media duties.
Williams felt her knee at the towards the end of the first set of her Centre Court return but played on in a valiant effort, saving match point to force a deciding set before the 20-year-old Joint prevailed, winning 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in two hours and 22 minutes.
“It was really great to be back at Wimbledon,” Williams had said in a statement issued by the All England Club. “I never expected to be here. The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything.”
Williams, who before returning to tennis appeared to wave goodbye to the sport at the 2022 US Open, made her comeback in doubles in June at Queen’s in London. She played one doubles match with Victoria Mboko, before playing another alongside Karolina Muchova in Berlin.
Venus and Serena Williams had planned to make their return to doubles at Wimbledon (AP)Wimbledon announced that the Williams sisters would be receiving a doubles wildcard, with the All England Club holding their final singles wildcard for the seven-time Wimbledon winner and giving her time to make her decision.
Venus, who is not playing singles, subsequently accepted a wildcard into the mixed doubles alongside German doubles specialist Kevin Krawietz. It suggested that Venus, 46, was giving herself a fall-back option as she bids to make her own return to Wimbledon.
“I thought it’s not every day Wimbledon holds a wild card for someone,” Williams had said in her pre-tournament press conference. “I can name probably like a handful of people. I happened to be one of those people. I thought I should really take this opportunity.
“Who knows if I'll ever make it here again. This could be it. I was like, What's wrong with me, Serena? What are you thinking? Are you nuts? Like you really should do this. I have this great opportunity to showcase what I do best. I think ultimately I was like that is pretty cool, so I should do it.”
More follows