Serena Williams suffered a shock exit from singles competition at Wimbledon over the weekend, and now the world’s No. 1 player has withdrawn from the tournament altogether, unable to continue her doubles match with sister Venus on Tuesday under strange circumstances.
Serena Williams forced to retire at Wimbledon under bizarre circumstances
After appearing groggy and losing her footing the world No.1 has withdrawn from Wimbledon.
Jan Kruger
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The match began with trainers attending to Serena prior to taking to the court, prompting questions about her health entering the day. This was coupled with an uncharacteristic attempt at serve that saw Serena lose her footing, then serve short:
It’s unclear whether an injury has been hampering Serena that has previously gone unreported. Her collapse against Alize Coronet represented a lack of consistency, routinely failing to make her first serves and giving up numerous points on unforced errors.
Serena was pensive following her singles exit, where she talked more about her mental game than any physical maladies:
“I don’t really know what I did wrong,” said Williams, whose sister Venus lost Friday. “Usually I do. Usually I know I did this, this, and that.”
Early reports from Wimbledon indicate that umpire Kader Nouni stepped in and told Williams to retire from the match due to a lack of balance and grogginess on the court. There has been no announcement on her condition at this time.
Update: Serena posted this Instagram on Wednesday.
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