Serena Williams pulled out of the U.S. Open yesterday, saying she still is recovering from surgery to repair cuts on her right foot.
The top-ranked Williams has won three titles at Flushing Meadows, part of her 13 Grand Slam singles championships, the most among active women. Last year, she lost in the U.S. Open semifinals after a tirade at a line judge over a foot-fault call, an outburst that drew a record fine.
“It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the U.S. Open,” Williams said in a statement.
Williams went on to add: “My doctors have advised against my playing so that my foot can heal.”
She called missing the tournament “one of the most devastating moments of my career.”
The 28-year-old American reportedly was hurt by a broken glass at a restaurant while she was in Munich last month — shortly after winning her fourth Wimbledon singles title on July 3, and before playing in an exhibition match against Kim Clijsters that drew a tennis-record crowd of 35,681 in Brussels on July 8.
Williams had surgery in Los Angeles on July 15. She already had pulled out of three hard-court tournaments she was scheduled to enter in preparation for the U.S. Open and also skipped playing World TeamTennis.
Last year, Williams lashed out at a lineswoman during her semifinal against eventual U.S. Open champion Clijsters. It was a profanity-laced, finger-pointing, racket-brandishing display during which Williams approached the official with what tournament director Jim Curley called at the time “a threatening manner.”