For the first time since 2003, neither of the Williams sisters will appear in this year’s last Grand Slam tournament. Serena announced Wednesday that she won’t be playing in the final Grand Slam, following her sister, Venus, and Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the withdrawal list.
Serena shared that her torn right hamstring has not fully recovered since Wimbledon in late June.
Venus also said she has a leg injury. They both announced their decisions via social media posts nearly 10 hours apart.
“Not the best news from Serena and I today. I, too, am unable to play the U.S. Open. It’s super super super disappointing,” Venus said. “Having some issues with my leg all this summer and just couldn’t work through it.”
Federer will be sitting out due to needing another surgery on his right knee, and Nadal said he’ll miss the rest of the season with a recurring left foot issue.
This will be the first major tournament since the 1997 Australian Open without any of the four in the singles brackets. Serena has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, a professional record. Venus has won seven. Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic share the men’s record of 20.
“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,” Serena wrote in a post on Wednesday.
She ended the post with: “I’ll see you soon.”
Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena’s coach, also posted on social media, saying, “we’ve done everything we could”. He added, “It is heartbreaking, but this is the only possible decision.”
This season, Serena was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, prior to losing to champion Naomi Osaka there. At the French Open, Serena lost in the fourth round to Elena Rybakina.
At Wimbledon, Serena was serving while leading 3-1 in her opening match when her left shoe lost its traction as she was hitting a forehand and her right leg flexed incorrectly.
She attempted to continue playing but eventually had to stop, the only second mid-match retirement of her Grand-Slam career and first since 1998.
There might never be such a great group of superstars playing at the same time again. Hopefully this isn’t the end of an era. And if it is, their legacy will live on forever.
