Former world No.1 Serena Williams has confirmed that she will not be playing in next month’s Australian Open after her name was missing from the official entry list which was published on Wednesday.
Williams, who has won the Melbourne major seven times in her career, said in a statement that she is ‘not where she needs to be’ with her physicality but didn’t specify if she is currently suffering from any injury-related issues. It will be the fifth time she has missed the Australian Open since making her debut back in 1998 and only the second time in the past decade. She has won the women’s title more times than any other player in the Open Era.
“While this is never an easy decision to make, I am not where I need to be physically to compete,” Williams said.
“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.”
The world No.41 has been absent from the Tour since pulling out of her first round match at Wimbledon due to injury. In total, she has only played in five tournaments this year with three of those being Grand Slam events. Williams’ win-loss record for the 2021 season is 12-5 with her best result being a run to the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open.
It is the second time this week that a former Grand Slam winner has pulled out of the upcoming Australian Open. On Monday Bianca Andreescu confirmed that she is going to delay the start of her 2022 season in order to take a mental break from the sport.
“I want to give myself extra time to reset, recover, and grow from this and continue to inspire by doing charity work, giving back and working on myself because I know by doing this I will come back stronger than ever,” she said.
Svetlana Kuznetsova is another player missing from the entry list but she is yet to publicly comment on her reason. The Russian hasn’t played since Wimbledon.
In the men’s draw world No.1 Novak Djokovic has entered to play following recent speculation about his attendance at the event. Due to a health mandate implemented in Victoria, all players at the Australian Open must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they have a medical exemption. Djokovic has refused to speak about his vaccination status in public and is yet to say if he will be travelling to Australia. Although he is also on the entry list for the ATP Cup which is held in Melbourne.
Roger Federer will not be playing as he continues his recovery from knee surgery which is set to sideline him from action for a few more months. Meanwhile, Stan Wawrika is another notable absentee from the entry list.
The Australian Open will get underway on January 17th.
