On Saturday Rogers Cup announced that Serena Williams has withdrawn from the tournament. According to AP, The 23-time Grand Slam champion is coming off the most lopsided defeat of her career, a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Johanna Konta in San Jose, California, on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old Williams was the runner-up at Wimbledon last month. That was just her fourth tournament since returning to the tour after having a baby in September and dealing with a health scare related to blood clots.
The year’s last major tournament, the U.S. Open, starts on Aug. 27.
Williams will be replaced in the draw at Montreal by Tatjana Maria, who faces Alize Cornet in the first round.
Her withdrawal from the Rogers Cup means she’s scheduled to appear in just a single tournament before traveling to Flushing Meadows, per tennis writer Ash Marshall.
According to Bleacher Report, this may not be such a bad thing for Williams, who picked a lighter schedule this year. Counter to conventional wisdom, she didn’t play a host of lawn tournaments to prepare for the switch from clay to grass, but it didn’t slow her down at Wimbledon, where she played some of her best tennis this year.
A similar approach to the hard courts of the U.S. Open could well work. Williams has won her home Grand Slam six times, and another win at Flushing Meadows will undoubtedly be one of her main goals for this year.
Serena posted to her Instagram three days ago. With a photo of baby Olympia in a tee saying “Relax my aunt is a nurse”.
We know Olympia will take care of her mom, and wish for a speedy recovery.
