Serena Williams was forced to retire from her doubles match with sister Venus on Tuesday at Wimbledon at the conclusion of both a very scary, and very bizarre episode.
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Williams, who was defeated in the third round of the singles tournament by Alize Cornet on Saturday, looked out of it from the start as she struggled with her coordination during warmup. After completing the warmup, she called a doctor on court shortly before the start of the match against Kristina Barrois and Stefanie Voegele.
She buried her hands in her face and consulted with the doctor for 10 minutes before taking the court to play. With the pair trailing 0-2 in the first set, Williams came to the line to serve and opened with back-to-back double faults. Chair umpire Kader Nouni even came down in the middle of the game to discuss with both sisters. Half of her serves barely reached the net, while the others landed more than a foot long.
After conceding serve with four double faults and consulting with the doctors again, Williams made the decision to retire. The official word from the WTA was a viral illness, and in a statement more than two hours after the match, Williams said:
"I am heartbroken I'm not able to continue in the tournament. I thought I could rally this morning, because I really wanted to compete, but this bug just got the best of me. I want to thank my sister, Kristina, Stefanie and our teams for their support. We were all looking forward to a great match. From the bottom of my heart, I thank all of the fans for their cheers and understanding. I look forward to returning to Wimbledon next year."