TENNIS NEWS FLASH • SERENA WILLIAMS WITHDRAWS FROM 2018 ROLAND GARROS
TENNIS NEWS FLASH • SERENA WILLIAMS WITHDRAWS FROM 2018 ROLAND GARROSepa06776381 Serena Williams of the USA reacts as she plays Ashley Barty of Australia during their women?s second round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 31 May 2018. EPA-EFE/IAN LANGSDON |
Serena Williams of the USA reacts as she plays Ashley Barty of Australia during their women’s second round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 31 May 2018. EPA-EFE/IAN LANGSDON
By Richard Pagliario
The blockbuster Roland Garros showdown between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova is over before it began.
Williams withdrew from the tournament before her scheduled fourth-round clash with Sharapova due to a strained pectoral muscle. Williams told the media in Paris she’s unable to serve because of the injury.
“I unfortunately have been having some issues with my pec muscle and unfortunately it’s been getting worse to the point where right now I can’t actually serve,” Williams told reporters. “It’s kind of hard to play when I can’t physically serve.”
The three-time champion’s withdrawal sends Sharapova into her first French Open quarterfinal since 2014 when she defeated Simona Halep to capture her second Roland Garros crown.
“It’s very difficult because I love playing Maria,” Williams said. “It’s a match I always get up for. Its extremely disappointing but I made a promise to myself that if I’m not at least 50 percent, I shouldn’t play”.
The 28th-seeded Sharapova will face either 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza or Lesia Tsurenko for a semifinal spot.
The unseeded Williams has won 18 consecutive matches against Sharapova.
Their highly-hyped fourth-round meeting was further fueled by Serena slamming Maria’s assertions about her in her memoir, Unstoppable: My Life So Far.
“I think the book was 100 percent hearsay,” Williams told the media.
Serena Williams of the USA plays Julia Goerges of Germany during their men’s third round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 02 June 2018. EPA-EFE/CAROLINE BLUMBERG
The 23-time Grand Slam champion said she initially felt pectoral pain during her third-round sweep of 11th-seeded German Julia Goerges.
“It didn’t start before I got here,” Williams said. “The first time I felt it was against Goerges in my last match. That’s when I started to feel it. It was really painful and I didn’t know what it was.”
Despite the pain, Williams partnered sister Venus in a doubles loss on Sunday. By the end of that match, Serena’s serve speed was below 90 mph. She said she played doubles to test taping jobs for her singles match today.
“In my doubles yesterday, I tried a lot of different tapings and I tried lots of different types of support to see how it would feel under match circumstances and it didn’t really get a lot better.”
The injury leaves Williams’ status for Wimbledon uncertain.
“I’m going to get an MRI tomorrow. I’m going to stay here and see some of the doctors here, see as many specialists as I can,” Williams said. “I won’t know (about playing Wimbledon) until I get those results.”
Topics: 10sballs, 2018 French Open, Clay tennis, French Open Tennis, Garbine Muguruza, Julia Goerges, Lesia Tsurenko, Maria Sharapova, Paris, RG18, Roland Garros, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis, Wta
Share this article:
Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:
10sBalls Top Stories
- No Key Biscayne, No Problem; New Site, Same Great Miami Open Tennis Event
- 10SBALLS SHARES FAVORITE EPA TENNIS PHOTOS Of 2018
- THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR ANY TENNIS PLAYER & FAN
- ATP MEN’S TENNIS • WILL IT MOVE FROM LONDON TO MANCHESTER OR TOKYO OR SINGAPORE? OR TURIN?
- ALIX RAMSAY WRITES TO “TENNIS SANTA CLAUS” WITH HER WISHES • ANDY MURRAY!
- CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT THE JACK KRAMER CLUB – DECEMBER 15 TO 22 2018 • UTR • ORACLE • AND AN AWESOME NEW TENNIS EVENT
- 10sBalls.com Shares Alix Ramsay’s Rambling On About Tennis and The Holidays
- ROGER FEDERER JOINED BY RAFA NADAL FOR THE 2019 LAVER CUP FESTIVITIES IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- TENNIS PLAYERS’ UNION – IS IT NEEDED? BY MARK WINTERS
- Tennis News: Wilson’s Revolution Is Here – THE CLASH
- ROTTERDAM TENNIS TOURNEY DIRECTOR RICHARD KRAJICEK ANNOUNCES DAVID GOFFIN TO PLAY IN 2019 ABN AMRO
- JELENA VEMIC’S PHOTO GALLERY
- TENNIS NEWS FROM LONDON • 10SBALLS REPORTS ON THE LAWN TENNIS WRITERS HOLIDAY LUNCHEON AT WIMBLEDON’S DEBENTURE CLUB
- 10sBalls.com Shares a Great Gift For A Tennis Player – The Functional Tennis Match Journal
- BNP PARIBAS TENNIS OPEN NAMED 2018 WTA PREMIER MANDATORY TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT YEAR
In Case You Missed It
EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA
Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE
Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER
According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife
Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos