Serena Williams Withdraws from Italian Open Because of Achilles Injury

Serena Williams announced Saturday that she has withdrawn from this week's Italian Open because of an Achilles injury.

According to the WTA's official website, Serena said in a statement: "I regretfully must withdraw from The Internazionali BNL d'Italia due to an Achilles strain. I'm so humbled by the continuous support from my fans in Rome and I look forward to making my return soon."

Williams last played Thursday, when she was defeated 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, by two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals of the 2020 U.S. Open.

Serena explained how she suffered the Achilles strain during her match against Azarenka: "I just was stretching. I ran for a shot, and off that first step that I took, it was a long point. It wasn't my ankle, it was actually my Achilles. It just overstretched. It was pretty intense. Then that was that."

Williams is a four-time winner of the Italian Open, held in Rome, tying her with Conchita Martinez for the second-most wins in the history of the tournament. Chris Evert has the most with five.

Serena's most recent Italian Open win came in 2016, when she beat Madison Keys in the final. Since then, Elina Svitolina won in 2017 and 2018, and Karolina Pliskova won last year.

With the French Open scheduled to begin September 21, the Italian Open will be a beneficial warm-up tournament for those looking to go deep at Roland Garros.

There has been no indication as yet regarding whether the injury could jeopardize her participation in Paris. If she does miss the tournament, it will extend her Grand Slam title drought since she won the 23rd of her illustrious career at the 2017 Australian Open.

Serena isn't the only high-profile player to bow out of the Italian Open, as fellow former Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova, Bianca Andreescu and Ashleigh Barty did so as well, per the WTA.