Days After a Sexist Interview Goes Viral, Serena Williams Withdraws From the French Open
After winning her first Grand Slam match post–maternity leave last week—and drawing comparisons to a superhero in the process—Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, has announced that she will withdraw from the 2018 French Open. The tennis superstar cited problems with her pectoral muscle at a press conference on Monday morning, explaining that “right now, I can’t actually serve, so it’s actually hard to play when I can’t physically serve.” Williams had tried taping her arm and shoulder areas for her doubles match yesterday, she said, and it didn’t improve. “I’ve never felt this in my life. This is so painful. I’ve pretty much had every injury in the book [but not this],” she said. Williams was bedridden for six weeks last year after she almost died giving birth to her daughter, Olympia. “I’m beyond disappointed. I gave up so much time with my daughter and time with my family . . . all for this moment. So it’s really difficult to be in this situation.”
Williams had been set to play Maria Sharapova today, who Williams has a 19-2 record against. “It’s very difficult, because I love playing Maria,” said Williams. “It’s a match I always get up for. It’s extremely disappointing, but I made a promise to myself that if I’m not at least 50 percent, I shouldn’t play.” Her withdrawal follows a bizarre interview excerpt that went viral over the weekend, in which a reporter asked whether she was “intimidated” by Sharapova’s sex appeal (an idea which allegedly began with none other than President Donald Trump) despite the fact that Sharapova has not defeated Williams since 2004. “I have been waiting about 14 years to ask you this question,” Inside Tennis’s Bill Simons said. “After the 2004 Wimbledon match with Maria, I had the opportunity to interview Donald Trump on his L.A. golf course, and he said that Maria’s shoulders were incredibly alluring and then he came up with his incredible analysis: That you were intimidated by her supermodel good looks. My question is: Have you ever been intimidated by anyone on a tennis court, and what are you thoughts about that occurrence?”
For her part, Williams’s answer befit one of the greatest athletes of all time: “I honestly don’t have any thoughts about that. I can’t say I have been intimated by anyone. That’s all. That’s it.”
