Serena
Williams reluctantly pulled out of this year’s Australian Open on Friday,
saying she needed more time to be ready to defend her title.
She said
while she was close to regaining full fitness after giving birth to her first
child in September, she was not fully ready to defend her title.
The
36-year-old was eight weeks pregnant last year when she triumphed for a seventh
time at Melbourne Park to claim an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam title.
The American
then took the rest of the year off before giving birth to a daughter.
She has
played just once in public since, losing to French Open champion Jelena
Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi last week.
But she was
still hopeful of making a remarkable return at the Australian Open until she
admitted defeat a week ahead of the event.
“My coach
and team always said ‘only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all
the way’.
“I can
compete – but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that
and to do so, I will need a little more time,” Williams said in a statement.
Williams had
told Vogue magazine last August about her “outrageous plan” to defend her
title.
But the
short turnaround after giving birth has proven too much for even the greatest
player of her generation.
Williams,
whose Grand Slam tally is just one shy of the all-time record held by
Australian Margaret Court, said she was disappointed to withdraw but looked
forward to returning in the future.
“After
competing in Abu Dhabi I realised that although I am super close, I‘m not where
I personally want to be,” Williams added.
“With that
being said, and even though I am disappointed about it, I’ve decided not to
compete in the Australian Open this year.”
Tournament
director Craig Tiley called Williams’ efforts to try and be ready for a title
defence at the Australian Open “Herculean” and said she transcended the sport.
“It was
never going to be good enough for her to just compete, she wants to give
herself the best chance to win,” Tiley said.
“I’ve been
in constant contact with Serena and her team and know this is why she has
pushed it and pushed it until the eleventh hour to make her final decision.”
Williams is
the latest big name to withdraw from the year’s opening Grand Slam, which will
be played from Jan. 15 to Jan. 28.
Britain’s
Andy Murray (hip) and Japan’s Kei Nishikori (wrist) having already said they
would not compete.
There is
also uncertainty over whether former champions Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka
and Rafa Nadal, the latter of which arrived in Melbourne earlier on Friday,
will be fit to take to the court.
(Reuters/NAN)
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