Serena Williams Retires with Back Injury in 2019 Rogers Cup Final
August 11, 2019
A back injury forced Serena Williams to retire four games into Sunday's final of the Rogers Cup against Bianca Andreescu. The veteran was trailing 3-1 at the time before handing the title to the Canadian.
Andreescu showed a lot of support immediately after hearing news of Williams' decision to drop out of the match:
Williams has 72 career singles titles but still hasn't won a tournament in 2019.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do it today, I tried," Williams said to the crowd, per BBC Sport. "It's been a tough year, but we'll keep going."
The 37-year-old has had a long road back following the birth of her daughter in 2017.
Injuries have especially been a problem in 2019, with an illness causing her to retire at Indian Wells and knee problems costing her the Miami Open and Italian Open. It now seems as though a back injury could limit her even more.
Williams has been effective when on the court, reaching the finals of Wimbledon last month before playing well this week in Toronto. She won four matches to earn a spot in the finals before having to retire in the first set Sunday.
Meanwhile, Andreescu now has two WTA top-tier tournament wins this year and is clearly a player to watch at just 19 years old in her third professional season.
