Serena Williams pulls out of French Open with injury

PARIS: Serena Williams' serve did not stick. The 36-year-old, owner of essentially the most dependable supply in ladies's tennis, pulled out of her heavyweight clash against Russian Maria Sharapova an hour prior to their French Open assembly on Philippe-Chatrier court docket, mentioning a pectoral muscle harm.

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The 23-time main winner, playing her first Grand Slam after the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia 9 months ago, put it merely, "I can't serve." The American, who arrived for the media briefing dressed in her hair in trendy waist-length braids, added, "I've been having some issues with my pectoral muscle. It's kind of hard to play when I can't serve."

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The 36-year-old was within the doubles draw with sister Venus and the duo went down in 3 sets within the third-round to Slovenia's Andreja Klepac and Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. The sisters were bageled within the decider. Williams, who served second for her workforce, was clutching her chest in her lone service recreation within the deciding set.

Serena Williams proclaims her withdrawal from #RG18 because of a proper pectoral harm. Wishing the three-time champio… https://t.co/oinThWPGSX

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"The first time I felt it was against (Julia) Goerges in my last match. I didn't know what it was, it was really painful," the three-time Roland Garros winner stated. "In my doubles (on Sunday) I tried a lot of different tapings to see how it would feel in a match circumstance."

Williams, who stated she had never had this harm prior to, was scheduled to get an MRI on Tuesday. "I'm going to stay here and see as many specialists as I can," she stated when asked when she'd have the ability to train once more and if Wimbledon was in her plans. "I can take solace from the fact I'm going to continue to get better. I love tennis and I love being out here, especially for the Grand Slams. I had such a wonderful performance in my first Grand Slam back."

Serena, who was remarkably composed when she confronted the media, stated, "I'm beyond disappointed. I gave up so much, from time with my daughter to time with my family. I put everything on the court for this moment. There was times where I'm on the court and I'm practicing, and I look on the monitor and I see my daughter and she's playing and I want to be there, but I know that these are the sacrifices you have to make to live out your dream. I have made every sacrifice that I could."

Williams explained the doubles was a take a look at to peer if she may go through along with her fourth-round singles clash. "I was never going to know how I feel under match play if I didn't have that match," she stated. "I wanted to try different tapings, strappings and lots of different stuff to see what I could try in my singles match. I'm not serving that often, serving once every four games. I thought it was a perfect opportunity for me to kind of see how I would be."

Williams leads the head-to-head against Sharapova 19-2. "I love playing Maria. It's a match I always get up for, her game matches so well against mine," she stated, adding, "I made a promise to myself, my coach and to my team that if I'm not at least 60 percent or 50 percent, then I probably shouldn't play."

The 31-year-old Russian, who may run into Spaniard Garbine Muguruza within the closing 8, stated in a statement: "I was looking forward to my match against Serena and I am disappointed that she had to withdraw. I wish her a speedy recovery and hope she returns to the Tour soon."

She will face 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza for a semi-final position.