Serena Williams of the U.S. supports herself with a racket as she plays Ana Ivanovic of Serbia during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)Aaron Favila/Associated Press

Serena Williams Injury: Updates on Tennis Star's Back and Recovery

Joseph ZuckerJan 18, 2014

Updates from Friday, Feb. 7

The WTA has announced that Williams has withdrawn from the Qatar Open:

The BNT Parabas Open also announced Williams will not be participating:

TOP NEWS

Original Text

As if losing to Ana Ivanovic in three sets during the 2014 Australian Open fourth round wasn't bad enough, Serena Williams tweaked the back injury she carried into the match.

Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, revealed that she had hurt herself during a practice session between the second and third rounds, per USA Today's Douglas Robson:

Matt Cronin of Tennis.com noted how the back injury affected her performance against Ivanovic. The biggest problem was that she couldn't move as well on the court:

The good news is that Williams' injury isn't considered serious, and since she's already out of the tournament, she can take a prolonged break to ensure that the back fully heals.

The next Grand Slam on the schedule is the French Open in May. That leaves plenty of time for Serena to get back to 100 percent and prepared enough on clay heading into Roland Garros.