Serena Williams has withdrawn from the US Open due to a hamstring injury she suffered at Wimbledon.
It was in her first round match at SW19 against Aliaksandra Sasnovich where the 23-time grand slam champion sustained the injury.
Since then Serena has not competed and today the American decided that her body needs more time to recover.
In a statement on Instagram Serena explained her decision, “After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the US Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring,” the American said.
“New York is one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favourite places to play – I’ll miss seeing the fans but will be cheering everyone from afar. Thank you for your continued support and love. I’ll see you soon.”
Serena had been in her last two grand slam hard court semi-finals losing to Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka on both occasions.
The US Open will see no Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Serena Williams for the first time since 1997.
Serena will look to recover for next year as she approaches the 40 year-old mark in search for a historic 24th grand slam title.
For the rest of the field they will now compete for the US Open title over the next two weeks with the draw for the last grand slam of the season taking place at 5pm BST tomorrow.
