Serena Williams Withdraws from the 2018 French Open

It’s official: Serena Williams‘ remarkable run at the 2018 French Open has come to an end. The three-time Roland Garros Champion was not defeated by an opponent, and she was not having complications due to her recent pregnancy; rather, Williams has confirmed that a right pectoral injury has reached the point where she can no longer serve effectively, if at all. Evidently, the injury bug first bit during her match against Julia Goerges (Serena won 6-3, 6-4). The pain was intense in that match, but she had no idea what had happened. The physical ailment continued throughout her doubles match the following day, where Serena and her sister Venus lost to María José Martínez Sánchez and Andreja Klepac (4-6, 7-6, 0-6). Despite trying different tape jobs to test out possible solutions, there was simply not enough improvement to warrant further play.

Serena Williams discusses her pectoral injury with reporters at the 2018 French Open.

As a result of the unfortunate injury, Serena’s Grand Slam comeback has officially come to an end. She had already defeated Kristýna Plíšková in the round of 128 (7-6, 6-4), and Ashleigh Barty in the round of 64 (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) before her impressive win over Goerges in the round of 32. Williams seemed poised to put up a great showing against a woman continuing a comeback of her own: WTA #30 Maria Sharapova.

The next steps for Williams will be to visit doctors and specialists to try and figure out what exactly happened, and then get an MRI on Tuesday for more detailed information on her physical status. Serena said that she had never experienced pain like this, so she wasn’t able to effectively manage it or play through it. Time will tell what exactly occurred to the right pectoral region of tennis’ greatest female athlete, and there’s no way to know whether or not she has a chance to recover for Wimbledon. For now, all we can do is wish her a speedy recovery.