Serena Williams is out of the French Open! The American announced her withdrawal shortly before her second-round match against Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, citing an Achilles injury.
We were expecting a thrilling encounter on Court Philippe-Chatrier, a repeat of Williams’ and Pironkova’s recent US Open quarterfinal, but we received disappointing news about an hour before the expected start of the match.
After her first-round victory over Kristie Ahn, Williams explained all the things she’s been doing to heal the Achilles injury she sustained in the US Open semifinals:
A ton of prayer. I’m doing so much for it. I did so much for it at Patrick’s academy, like I went straight from New York directly to his academy and started rehabbing it. Yeah, so one of the reasons I came into press a little bit earlier than normal, because I need to get back and start the protocol all over again. So just kind of rehab that, laser, ice, just a lot, a lot of stuff on it.
The 39-year-old Williams told the press in Paris today:
I felt like I needed to walk with a limp. I had to focus on walking straight.
Williams now needs two weeks of pure rest and a few more weeks of recovery, so it is unlikely that we’ll see her play again in 2020. We’ll keep you updated.
