Serena Williams, the biggest star in women’s tennis and perhaps the entire sport, is done at Wimbledon before even finishing one round.
Williams on Tuesday withdrew in her first set against Aliaksandra Sasnovich with an apparent lower body injury. She tried to play through what appeared to be an ankle injury which she suffered after building a 3-1 lead in the first set, but the sixth-seeded superstar couldn’t do it and had to retire at 3-3.
It’s just the second time in her storied career Williams has withdrawn from a major.
Williams was hoping for at least one more magical run across the pond. The seven-time Wimbledon champion hasn’t won at the All England Club since 2016 and hasn’t won a Grand Slam title since the 2017 Australian Open. Part of that drought is because of time missed on paternity leave, but she also has dealt with injuries in recent years, too, and this is just the latest.
The injury comes just two days after Williams announced she wouldn’t be playing in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo later this summer.
