Injury forces Venus Williams to withdraw from the Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Venus Williams has withdrawn from the Australian Open for an undisclosed injury she sustained while playing in a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand this week.

Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam Singles champion. She was granted a wild card entry into the Australian Open last week to compete at what would have been her 22nd major in Melbourne Park.

The Australian Open announced that Williams, 42, had withdrawn from the tournament since Jan. 16. It didn’t provide any details about the injury.

Williams’ run of misfortunes continues with this performance, having last played at Melbourne Park 2021.

Williams was a two-time Australian Open Finalist. He injured his ankle and knee when he fell awkwardly on the net against Sara Errani in round 2.

She had her best performances at Melbourne Park when she was beaten in finals by Serena Williams in 2003 and 2017.

Williams, now ranked 1,003, stated that she was thrilled to be back in Melbourne after being granted the wildcard in Dec.

“I’ve been competing in the country for over 20 years now and the Australian community has always supported me wholeheartedly,” she said.

The five-time Wimbledon singles champion was plagued by injuries in the last two years. She was limited to four tournaments at the U.S. in August. She failed to advance past the first round of those events, and was defeated by Alison van Uytvanck at U.S. Open.

However, she began 2023 with a positive note when she defeated fellow American Katie Volynets in Auckland. She was then beaten by China’s Zhu Lin in three sets in the second round.

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