Venus Williams out of Australian Open on account of damage

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Venus Williams has withdrawn from the Australian Open for an undisclosed damage she sustained whereas taking part in in a event in Auckland, New Zealand this week.

A seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, Williams acquired a wild-card entry into the Australian Open final month to compete in what would have been her twenty second main at Melbourne Park.

However the Australian Open mentioned on Saturday the 42-year-old Williams had withdrawn from the event starting Jan. 16. It didn’t present specifics concerning the damage.

It continues a run of misfortunes for Williams, who final performed at Melbourne Park in 2021.

A two-time Australian Open finalist, Williams injured an ankle and knee in that look when stumbling awkwardly on the internet in a second-round match towards Sara Errani.

Her greatest efforts at Melbourne Park got here when she was crushed by her sister Serena Williams in finals in 2003 and 2017.

Now ranked 1,003, Williams mentioned when granted the wild card in December that she was excited to be returning to Melbourne.

“I’ve been competing within the nation for over 20 years now and the Australian group has at all times supported me wholeheartedly,” she mentioned.

The five-time Wimbledon singles champion has struggled with accidents over the previous two years and was restricted to taking part in simply 4 tournaments within the U.S. final August. She didn’t progress past the primary spherical in these occasions and ended her season when crushed by Alison van Uytvanck on the U.S. Open.

However she began 2023 on a constructive be aware by defeating fellow American Katie Volynets in Auckland. She was then crushed by China’s Zhu Lin in three units within the second spherical.

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