‘My knees weren’t ready to compete’: ‘Heartbroken’ Serena Williams withdraws from Wimbledon doubles | Tennis News

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Wimbledon women’s doubles match with a right knee injury, ending plans to reunite with sister Venus Williams at the tournament.The 44-year-old suffered the injury while returning to singles action earlier this week and lost a three-set match.Serena announced her exit in an Instagram post, writing: “It breaks my heart to have to withdraw from doubles. Coming back to compete again is a gift and the opportunity to compete alongside Venus Williams again means the world to me. I gave it my all but unfortunately my knee just wasn’t ready to compete.”Along with her post, Serena also shared photos of four syringes, saying they showed “fluid coming out of my knee after a singles match.” She also posted a video of herself walking with a heavy strap on her right leg, while one of her daughters appeared to be using a cane for her.Despite the setback, Serena said she may be back on the court soon as the U.S. Open approaches.“All I can say,” Serena added, “is please stay tuned to a city near you.”The Williams sisters were scheduled to face Camila Osorio and Solana Serra in the first round. Their match was the only women’s doubles first-round match not played earlier this week after it was postponed to give Serena more recovery time.Serena returned to singles action on Tuesday but was defeated by Australian 20-year-old Maya United 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.Venus also competed in Friday’s mixed doubles match with Kevin Kravitz. The pair lost in straight sets to Theresa Mihalikova and Lloyd Glasspool.The Williams sisters are six-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champions.