SERENA WILLIAMS, who reached the US Open semi-finals last week, has pulled out of the Internazionali d’Italia tournament in Rome after citing an Achilles injury.

The American ace, who has been lying just a single major victory away from a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles success since 2017, had set her heart on playing the prestigious tournament in Italy that begins on September 21.

But her Archilles injury, which troubled her during her final four exit to former world no.1 Victoria Azarenka in New York on September 10, has denied the veteran clay court match practice before the forthcoming French Open.

Statement

Williams’ short statement, released by the WTA Tour, read: “I regretfully must withdraw from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia due to an Achilles strain.”

The three-time French Open winner showed flashes of yesteryear dominance at New York’s Flushing Meadows until she ran out of steam against 32-year-old Azarenka.

And she explained after her three-set reversal to the Belarus star about medical assistance for her Achilles pain: “It wasn’t much, I just was stretching when I ran for a shot. Off that first step that I took, it wasn’t my ankle, it was actually my Achilles. It just overstretched, it was pretty intense. 

One point

“It feels fine, I don’t think it had anything to do [with the defeat] because Victoria played well. It didn’t affect my play ultimately at all, just for that one point.”

Had she succeeded at Flushing Meadows, where she finished runner-up in 2018 and 2019, her triumph would have ended a 44-month quest following her last major title with the 2017 Austrialia Open crown over sister Venus.

The 38-year-old will return to the circuit aiming to have a shot at lifting the crown in Paris at the delayed Grand Slam, switched from the usual May start due to the coronavirus crisis, which is scheduled to take place from September 27 to October 11. However, her continuous heavy reliance on her serves will not prove to be such a lethal weapon on the French clay compared to the fast, hard courts of New York.

Shock defeats

For Williams the fact that she tasted shock defeats in her past four Slam finals was one thing, but failing to win despite a depleted line-up at the recent 2020 US Open – with six of the world’s top 10 absent – seems another huge upset for the serial winner.

Williams will be aware that bouncing back from that missed opportunity on her home surface will be a tough pill to swallow, although as she remains one of the greatest athletes in the sport then she cannot be written off at the French Open despite turning 39 later this month.