French Open | Injured Serena Williams pulls out ahead of power clash with Maria Sharapova

06/05/2018

Serena Williams decided to step down from the French Open ahead of the much anticipated fourth-round clash against Maria Sharapova due to a muscle injury that affected her serve. The 23-time Grand Slam champion had just made a comeback to the court after giving birth to her first child.

Williams had taken a sabbatical from the tennis last year to give birth to her first child and made a return to the court just ahead of the second Grand Slam event of the year. However, she looked in fine form at Roland Garros regardless of the absence as she advanced into the fourth round with a routine win over German 11th seed Julia Gorges on Saturday.

The former World No.1 also took part in the doubles event, partnering her sister Venus Williams the following day that showed no signs of inhibition whatsoever, but revealing in the press conference that her injury in the right pectoral muscle had resurfaced and she wouldn’t be able to compete in the potential high-octane clash against Maria Sharapova.

"I've had issues with the right pectoral muscle to the point where I can't serve," the 36-year-old was quoted as saying by BBC.

"I'll have a scan. I won't know about Wimbledon until I get the results. I tried lots of taping and support to see how it felt in match circumstances. It is hard to play when I can't physically serve. I've never had this injury before, I've never felt it in my life and it was so painful. I don't know how to manage it,” the legendary tennis ace added.

However, her decision to pull out has derailed the fans from seeing two of the former champions locking horns against each other in the tournament at Roland Garros- especially because of the frosty relationship the duo share since they first went head to head in 2003. While Williams revealed that she would stay back in Paris to check the extent of her injury, Sharapova stated that she was disappointed for not being able to resume the rivalry in France and wished the American speedy recovery from the injury.

"I wish her a speedy recovery and hope she returns to the tour soon," Sharapova said.