After suffering an injury to her Achilles tendon during her semifinal loss to Victoria Azarenka at the US Open, Serena Williams has announced that she will not play next week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
“I regretfully must withdraw due to an Achilles strain,” Williams said. “I’m so humbled by the continuous support from my fans in Rome and I look forward to making my return soon.”
Williams, who said the injury had no impact on her loss to Victoria Azarenka on Thursday, told reporters after her semifinal loss that she intends to be at Roland Garros.
“I'm definitely going to be going to Paris,” she said.
In other news, the tournament has released its draws, which feature a high percentage of Top 20 players, including Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on the men’s side and four of the Top 5 players on the women’s side, including Simona Halep.