MELBOURNE, Australia – Serena Williams withdrew from an Australian Open tournament with a right shoulder injury on Friday within hours of setting up a semi-final against Ash Barty, who was in the top spot.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion usually does not play in a tournament the week before a Grand Slam event, but makes an exception before last year’s US Open and for this Australian Open due to all the interruptions that the Caused COVID-19 pandemic. .
The 39-year-old American has played her first tournament since withdrawing from the French Open before her second-round match due to an Achilles tendon injury in October. She, like all players who traveled to Australia for the tournament, had to sit in quarantine for 14 days and had limited training during that time.
With the year’s first major starting Monday, Williams may be resting better.
She has claimed three wins at the Yarra Valley Classic – one of six tournaments at Melbourne Park this week – with a 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 win in a clash with Danielle Collins on Friday.
The withdrawal took place after her post-match news conference – when she made no reference to any issues – so no full explanation was offered.
That means Barty gets a run in the final and also rests on Saturday.
There were 70 matches on the playing order on Friday, an extensive program a day after all matches were postponed in six tournaments, so that 160 players and 507 people in total could be isolated and tested because a worker in a hotel in the quarantine delivered a positive test. Tennis Australia said all tests were negative.
To speed things up a bit at the end of the tournament, 17 lanes were used and women’s matches were reduced, if necessary, to two regular sets with a tiebreaker of ten points.
Williams and Barty both had to play the showdown – Barty beat Shelby Rogers 7-5, 2-6, 10-4.
Before Williams withdrew, she said she was looking forward to the semifinals.
“It’s definitely a good opportunity to see where I’m going against the current No. 1, it’s really important to me,” Williams said. ‘Of course I also think for her to see where she goes against my game.
“It’s been a long twelve months. Tennis has been played, but not really, so … it’s hopefully like a new year where things will be different.”
Garbine Muguruza beat Sofia Kenin, the defending champion of the Australian Open, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals, thus stopping their result from their final in 2020 at Melbourne Park. She plays next number 8 Marketa Vondrousova.