Serena Williams has failed to recover from a knee issue in time to play doubles at Wimbledon.
Serena, 44, and Venus Williams, 46, given a wild card into the women’s doubles, were due to play their first-round match on Saturday evening.
But the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion suffered a knee injury during her singles comeback match against Maya Joint on Tuesday.
Serena is NOT retiring just yet
Serena made her return in singles after nearly four years away.
“I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside Venus once more meant the world to me.
“I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately my knee just isn’t ready to compete.
“I’m especially grateful to tournament director, Jamie Baker, and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to play here. Thank you to the fans for your incredible support and for making this comeback so meaningful…All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you…
“The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match…yikes!
“The good news is my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I just wasn’t able to get it ready for doubles.”
The Williams sisters, who have six doubles titles at the All England Club, were drawn to play Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio in the opening round.
Serena said after her defeat by Joint she had “tweaked” her right knee at the end of the first set but would do everything to be ready for action again.
Serena partnered Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko at the WTA event at Queen’s Club last month but the pair’s campaign was cut short after Mboko’s knee injury in singles action.
Serena then paired up with Czech Karolina Muchova in the Berlin Open but the duo went down in their first match.
What’s next for Serena?
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Judy Murray discusses Serena Williams’ comeback to tennis
The American great isn’t going to retire, despite this knee injury ending the 44-year-old’s Wimbledon comeback.
With the US Open approaching – live on Sky Sports from August 30 – September 13 – Williams indicated she could play again somewhere else soon.
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