SERENA HANDS FREEF TICKET TO SHARAAPOVA INTO QUARTER-F INALS

AMERICAN Serena Williams withdrew from the French Open, shortly before she was due on court to face Maria Sharapova in a much-anticipated fourth round showdown.

The 36-year-old 23-time Grand Slam champion, making a comeback after a maternity break, told a news conference yesterday she had a pectoral muscle injury.

“Unfortunately I’m having some issues with my pec muscle. Right now I can’t actually serve it’s kind of hard to play,” she said.

“I’m having an MRI (scan) tomorrow, I’m going to stay here to see the doctors and see as many specialists as I can. I won’t know (how serious the injury is) until I get those results.”

Williams had worked hard to get back in shape and was making her Grand Slam comeback at the French Open following the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia last September.

“Physically I’m doing great. It hasn’t been easy. I sacrificed so much to be at this event. I’m going to continue to get better. I had such a wonderful performance in my first Grand Slam back,” she added.

Maria Sharapova’s coach says the Russian player was waiting at courtside, ready to go on, when they got the news that Serena Williams was pulling out of their fourth-round match. Thomas Hogstedt said: “It was a shock. We were ready. We prepared a long time for this match.”

He says Williams had been “the player to beat” before her sudden withdrawal with injury.

He also says Sharapova’s confidence is high ahead of her quarter-final appearance in her first French Open since her return from a 15-month doping ban.

He says “she knows she’s playing well, so she’s ready.”