Serena Williams has announced that she’s withdrawn from this year’s Australian Open. Less than two weeks after making her official return to the court with an exhibition match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, and four months after giving birth to her first child, she said today that she would not be appearing at the tournament in a few weeks:
“My coach and team always said, ‘Only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way’. I can compete – but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time. With that being said, and even though I am disappointed about it, I’ve decided not to compete in the Australian Open this year.”
Williams had already committed to being the keynote speaker for a conference in Florida during the quarterfinals of the Open, so it shouldn’t be too big of a surprise that she’s decided to bow out here.
She won last year’s Australian Open while two months pregnant with her daughter.