Serena Williams Out At Wimbledon After Suffering Injury In First Round

Topline

American tennis star Serena Williams retired from her first round match at Wimbledon on Tuesday after suffering an injury, ending her quest of tying the record for most-ever Grand Slam tournament wins by a woman through winning this year’s tournament.

The Agony of Defeat: Serena Williams falls to the ground during the women’s singles first-round … [+] match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus on day two of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on June 29, 2021.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Key Facts

This is only the second time Williams, 39, has retired from a match at a Grand Slam tournament, according to ESPN.

Williams was just 34 minutes into her first round match when she went to return a shot from Belarusian opponent Aliaksandra Sasnovich and suddenly collapsed onto the court in pain.

Wimbledon officials confirmed after Williams’ exit that she had suffered an injury as a result of slipping on the grass at Center Court.

Williams stood up a moment later and was in tears as she retired from the match to a standing ovation from the crowd at Wimbledon’s Center Court.

Crucial Quote

“Oh, my God, I can’t believe it,” men’s star Roger Federer said of Williams’ exit. Federer had played on Center Court just before Williams did and noted at his post-match news conference that the grass on the court was slippery. Federer’s opponent in his match—Adrian Mannarino—also retired after slipping on the grass and suffering an injury.

Key Background

Williams was seeded No. 6 at Wimbledon and hopes were high she would win the tournament and tie Margaret Court’s career record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles in doing so—a record Williams has been chasing for years. Her last Grand Slam win was at the Australian Open in 2017, which she captured before stepping away from tennis for the remainder of 2017 after announcing she was pregnant. Williams returned to regular competition in 2018, but has come just short of winning several Grand Slam tournaments, while having to deal with a continuous string of injuries. Williams finished as runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in both 2018 and 2019, while making it to the U.S. Open semifinals in 2020 and the Australian Open semifinals in 2021.

Surprising Fact

This is the earliest Williams has ever left the Wimbledon tournament. Her earliest exits before Tuesday were third-round finishes in 1998, 2005 and 2014.

What To Watch For

Williams confirmed on Sunday that she does not plan to take part in the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo.

Further Reading

Serena Williams Confirms She Won’t Compete In Tokyo Olympics (Forbes)

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