Venus Williams compelled to withdraw from Australian Open with damage

Muricas News  — 

Venus Williams has withdrawn from the Australian Open on account of an damage she sustained on the ASB Traditional in New Zealand, match organizers introduced by way of Twitter on Saturday.

The American was awarded a main-draw wild card for what would have been her twenty second look on the Australian Open, 25 years after her match debut in 1998.

Williams’ withdrawal comes simply days after she gained her first tour-level singles match in a 12 months and a half, defeating fellow American Katie Volynets 7-6 (4) 6-2 within the opening spherical of the ASB Traditional in Auckland, New Zealand.

The 42-year-old then misplaced to China’s Zhu Lin 3-6 6-2 7-5 within the subsequent spherical of the match.

She is a two-time finalist on the Australian Open – in 2003 and 2017 and misplaced to her sister, Serena, on each events.

Now ranked exterior the highest 1000, Williams has gained seven grand slams since her skilled debut in 1994 and has develop into the world No. 1 in each singles and doubles.

Males’s world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz may also miss the Australian Open, on account of a leg damage, he mentioned on Friday.

The match would have been the 19-year-old’s first grand slam since successful the 2022 US Open in September and changing into the youngest world No. 1 within the historical past of males’s tennis.

In the meantime, there are query marks over the health of ladies’s world No. 1 Iga Swiatek after she withdrew from the Adelaide Worldwide 2 match on Saturday on account of a proper shoulder damage.