It was a quick and painful end for Serena Williams at Wimbledon.
via: People
According to NBC Sports, the 39-year-old tennis legend slipped on the court during her match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich and limped to her chair before briefly leaving the court with an injury timeout.
Williams returned with her right thigh taped but fell to her knees soon after the match continued.
With the match at 3-all in the first set, Williams — the No. 6 seed — retired from the tournament. She waved to the crowd, who gave her a standing ovation in return as she left the court holding back tears.
“Of course I’m so sad for Serena, she’s a great champion,” Sasnovich said, according to ESPN. “It happens sometimes in tennis but all the best for her and her recovery.”
The outlet noted that this is only the second time in Williams’ career that she retired from a match at a major. The last time was in the third round of 1998’s All England Club.
We're heartbroken for you, Serena.
Our seven-time singles champion is forced to retire from The Championships 2021 through injury#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/vpcW1UN78s
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2021
Another player, Adrian Mannarino, also slipped during the tournament this week. Mannarino was playing against Roger Federer, and was forced to retire after the accident, ESPN reported.
The injury clearly hurts Williams’s chances of tying Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. For now, Williams’ count will remain at 23.
Before the start of the tournament, Williams announced she would not be attending the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
“I’m actually not on the Olympic list, not that I’m aware of,” Williams said during a press conference. “If so, then I shouldn’t be on it.”
“There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision,” she continued. “I don’t really want to — I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day.”
She is a four-time Olympic gold medalist.
“I have not thought about it,” she said of the Games. “In the past [the Olympics] has been a wonderful place for me. I really haven’t thought about it, so I’m going to keep not thinking about it.”
Wishing Serena a speedy recovery.
