Serena Williams Withdraws Before Maria Sharapova Showdown
Serena Williams has been forced to pull out of the French Open through injury.
Serena Williams has withdrawn from the French Open due to injury ahead of her eagerly-awaited fourth-round showdown with Maria Sharapova.
Williams first felt the injury, which she has never suffered before, during her third-round victory over Julia Goerges on Saturday.
The 36-year-old revealed the painful issue has left her unable to serve and she had played a doubles match with sister Venus on Sunday to see if taping and strappings would ease the pain.
Williams, who spoke softly and was understandably despondent when she faced the media, will have a scan in Paris on Tuesday to discover the extent of the damage.
"I'm going to get an MRI tomorrow. I'm going to stay here and see some of the doctors here, see as many specialists as I can. And I won't know that until I get those results."
She added: "It's really difficult to be in this situation, but I always, for now in my life, I just always try to think positive and just think of the bigger picture and hopefully the next events and the rest of the year."
Despite being uncertain about the severity of the setback, Williams is optimistic that she will return in the near future.
The American stated: "I can only take solace in the fact I'm going to continue to get better. And I had such a wonderful performance in my first grand slam back.
"I just feel like it's only going to do better and I'm coming up on hopefully surfaces that are my absolute favourite to play on and that I do best on.
"Hopefully I can continue to heal and be able to play those events."