Serena Williams Withdraws From US Open Over Hamstring Injury

The 2021 US Open will not feature the names you’ve grown accustomed to watching over the past two decades. 

Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, announced Wednesday that she’ll be withdrawing from the upcoming tournament, citing the need to recover from a torn hamstring. 

“After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the US Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring,” Williams said in a post to Instagram  “New York is one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favorite places to play — I’ll miss seeing the fans but will be cheering everyone on from afar.” 

“Thank you for your continued support and love. I’ll see you soon,” she said. 

In June, Williams was forced to retire from Wimbledon after suffering a leg injury in her first-round matchup against unseeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich. It marked the first time Williams had not made it past the first round of Wimbledon, and just the second time in her illustrious career where she had to retire from a match at a major. 

Before Wimbledon, Williams announced that she would be skipping the Tokyo Olympics — though the hamstring injury at Wimbledon would have precluded her from participating anyway.  

“There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision,” she said. “I don’t really want to — I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry.”

“I have not thought about it. 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.”

In withdrawing from the US Open, Williams will once again have to wait for her opportunity to tie Margaret Court for the most Grand Slam singles titles. 

On the men’s side, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal also will not be participating. 

Federer announced that he was withdrawing from the US Open last week, citing the need for a third surgery on his right knee. The surgery certainly puts the future in doubt for the 40-year-old. 

“I want to give myself a glimmer of hope to return to the tour in some shape or form,’’ Federer said. “I am realistic. Don’t get me wrong. I know how difficult it is at this age to do another surgery and try it. But I want to be healthy and I’ll go through the rehab process.”

Nadal withdrew shortly after Federer’s announcement due to a left foot injury.

“I needed to talk with my family, with my team and with my doctors especially to understand what is going on,” Nadal said. “But the foot is not the proper way today and during the last year I was not able to practice and prepare myself the way I need to to be competitive at the standard I want to be. So we had to make that decision, but I am confident that I will recover myself 100 percent and I will be able to fight again for the most important things.”

The US Open begins on Monday.

Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].

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