MELBOURNE: Not long after Serena Williams’ name was absent from the entry list for the Australian Open, she confirmed the obvious: the seven-time champion won’t play the 2022 edition of the season-opening major in January.

The 40-year-old Serena hasn’t played since retiring from her first-round match at Wimbledon with a right hamstring injury and her ranking has slipped to No. 41. She won the last of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles at the 2017 Australian Open, and was beaten in the semifinals this year by Naomi Osaka in straight sets.

The Australian Open’s website on Wednesday said, “The seven-time women’s singles champion would not compete in Melbourne following advice from her medical team.”

“While this is never an easy decision to make, I am not where I need to be physically to compete,” Serena told the website.

“Melbourne is one of my favourite cities to visit and I look forward to playing at the AO every year. I will miss seeing the fans, but am excited to return and compete at my highest level.”

Ash Barty tops the women’s entry list and will continue her quest to end a long drought for Australian women at the tournament. No Australian woman has won the singles title since Chris O’Neil in 1978.

On Monday, Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion said she will take a mental break from tennis and sit out the start of next season, including the Australian Open.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2021