Serena Williams Tearfully Withdraws From Wimbledon, Loses Chance To Tie With Margaret Court
Serena Williams was forced to withdraw herself from Wimbledon on June 29. She reportedly had no choice, after suffering a leg injury.
Serena Williams, 39, broke down in tears on the tennis court in Wimbledon on June 29 after making the decision to withdraw from the tournament because of what happened to her leg. In the first set of Tuesday's first-round match - while in a match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus - Serena slipped because of the wet grass. Her right leg was severely injured in the process.
At first, there was no decision to withdraw yet, as reported by Hollywood Life.
The seven-times singles champion immediately took a time out to get her leg treated. It was wrapped by an athletic trainer, and back to the game Serena went. But she could not use her leg for so long.
Once she give the tournament another shot, the pain proved too great. She even fell to the ground because of the extreme pain she was experiencing. However, the pain appeared to be too great for her
When it became clear to Serena herself that she could not continue the match because of her leg condition, she made the decision to retire from the match. It was obviously hard for her, because she made the decision in tears.
Those who were watching the match were moved as well.
The crowd empathized with Serena and even saluted her decision. It is after all, not easy to admit one can no longer carry on. The crowd gave her a standing ovation to show her how much they respected her decision.
She waved to the crowd as she left, which was both heartbreaking and respectful to see.
Still, this does mean that Williams lost her shot to attain her record-tying 24th Grand Slam women's singles title at Wimbledon. She has won an impressive 23 Grand Slam titles already, but Margaret Court has 24. If she won this, then they would tie with each other.
But then, this does not really mean Williams is retiring from this sport she excels in so much. This is hardly the first time she had to withdraw from a match due to injury.
She also removed herself from the Grand Slams due to an injury in 1998. As everyone would know, she eventually started to play and win matches once more.
Serena should focus on recovering.
