No showdown: Serena Williams out through injury
Serena Williams called off her Grand Slam comeback because of a chest muscle injury yesterday, pulling out of the French Open shortly before she was supposed to play Maria Sharapova in the fourth round.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Williams said during a news conference at Roland Garros. “But also, I made a promise to myself and to my coach and to my team that if I’m not at least 60 per cent or 50 per cent, then I probably shouldn’t play.”
Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, said she can’t hit serves because of a problem with her right pectoral muscle. Her voice trembled a bit as she explained that she will get an MRI exam and consult with doctors before figuring out what will happen next for her.
“The fact that I physically can’t serve at all is a good indication that maybe I should just go back to the drawing board and stay positive,” Williams said, “and try to get better and not get it to a point where it could be a lot worse.”
The 36-year-old American was competing at a major tournament for the first time in 16 months and for the first time since giving birth to her daughter last September.
Williams said her chest began hurting in her third-round singles victory over 11th-seeded Julia Goerges on Saturday.
“It was really painful,” Williams said, “and I didn’t know what it was.”
Despite that, Williams played in a doubles loss alongside her older sister, Venus, on Sunday and tried to limit the pain by taping up the muscle. But nothing was effective enough that Williams thought she could continue in Paris.
Her withdrawal allows Sharapova, a two-time French Open champion, to move into the quarterfinals. Their match had shaped up as the most-anticipated of the women’s tournament, even though Williams has won 19 of 21 previous head-to-head encounters, including the past 18 in a row.
Rafael Nadal beats Maximilian Marterer to reach quarterfinals
Ten-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal moved into the quarter-finals of the tournament with a 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory over Germany’s Maximilian Marterer.
Nadal, 32, lost his opening service game and trailed 2-0 in the first set before recovering.
He broke Marterer’s serve early in the second set and fought back from 3-1 down in the third for a straight-set win against the unseeded 22-year-old.
The Spaniard will play 11th seed Diego Schwartzman, 25, in the last eight.
The world number one has also won 37 consecutive sets in this tournament, although he needed a tie-break in the third set to secure the win over the world number 70.
Other result
Marin Cilic bt Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-1 3-6 6-7 6-3