Serena Williams has been forced to withdraw from the WTA Finals in Singapore due to a shoulder injury.
The 35-year-old hasn’t played a match on the tour since here loss to Karolina Pliskova in the semifinals of the US Open last month. Williams skipped the entire Asian swing due to problems with her right shoulder. Earlier in the season the former world No.1 also missed tournaments in Canada and America due to the same issue.
“I’m really bummed I won’t be able to compete this year in Singapore. It has been a tough year for me, dealing with so much shoulder injuries,” Williams said in a video published by the WTA.
“My doctors insist that I stay at home so I can start to heal. I’m doing treatments every single day so I can play next year and have the chance to make it back to Singapore. I only have wonderful memories of playing in Singapore, and I will really miss my fans. I want to wish everyone a great time, and I hope it will be an amazing tournament — it always is.”
It is the second consecutive year that 22-time grand slam champion has missed the end-of-year tournament, which has a prize money pool of $7 million. Last season the American also missed the entire Asian swing in order to focus on her health after playing injured throughout 2015.
Williams’ withdrawal comes a month after she lost her world No.1 ranking to Germany’s Angelique Kerber, ending her 186-week reign. This season she has achieved a win-loss record of 38-6 in eight tournaments and won titles in Rome and Wimbledon. It is the first time that Williams has only been able to win two titles within a season since 2011. As a result of Williams ending her year early, Kerber is guaranteed to finish the year as world No.1.
BREAKING: @SerenaWilliams has withdrawn from #WTAFinals. This is her message to the fans. Get well soon Serena! pic.twitter.com/E9GfwjERc0
— WTA (@WTA) 17 October 2016
Due to Williams’ absence, three players now have a chance to grab the final qualifying place in Singapore. Johanna Konta is currently in the qualifying spot, however, she is not playing in any tournament this week. Svetlana Kuznetsova or Carla Suarez Navarro could snatch the spot away from Konta if either of them wins the Moscow Open this week.
Road to Singapore standings
1 Kerber, Angelique 8000 points
2 Radwanska, Agnieszka 4975 points
3 Halep, Simona 4728 points
4 Pliskova, Karolina 4100 points
5 Muguruza, Garbiñe 3736 points
6 Keys, Madison 3637 points
7 Cibulkova, Dominika 3625 points
8 Konta, Johanna 3455 points
9 Suárez Navarro, Carla 3170 points
10 Kuznetsova, Svetlana 3080 points
