Serena Williams shares photos of injured knee after Wimbledon withdrawal

Serena Williams has been forced to withdraw from her first-round Wimbledon doubles match with sister Venus Williams due to a knee injury.

Williams accepted a wildcard invitation from the All England Club to play her first professional singles match since the 2022 US Open, as well as doubles with her sister.

The 44-year-old, a seven-time champion at SW19, ‘tweaked’ her right knee during her first-round singles defeat to Maya Joint on Tuesday.

The legendary American tennis player was given as much time as possible to recover from that issue, but has now confirmed she is not fit enough to play their first-round doubles match on Saturday evening.

In a statement on Instagram, Williams said: ‘I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles. Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside Venus Williams 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…’

Alongside her statement, Williams shared photos of her with heavy strapping on her right knee as well as syringes full of fluid which had been drained from her knee.

‘The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match…yikes!’ she added.

‘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.’

While alluding to competing further in her Instagram post, Williams has not formally confirmed that she plans to play again after her one match at Wimbledon.

Williams did not field questions from the media following her singles defeat to Joint and instead provied brief quotes via the All England Club.

They read: ‘It was really great to be back at Wimbledon. I never expected to be here.

‘The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything.’

Following Wimbledon, the tennis calendar switches to the North American hard court swing and all eyes could be on Williams to return at the US Open, which begins on August 30.

Unlike her sister, Venus was not provided a wildcard into the women’s singles competition. She did compete in the mixed doubles alongside Kevin Krawietz, but the pair lost in straight sets to Lloyd Glasspool and Tereza Mihalikova.

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