Shortly after Serena Williams’ name was absent from the Australian Open entry list, she confirmed the obvious: the seven-time champion will not play the 2022 edition of the opening major of the season in January.
Williams, 40, has not played since retiring from her first round match at Wimbledon with a right hamstring injury and her ranking fell to No.41. She won the last of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles at the 2017 Australian Open, and was beaten in the semifinals this year by Naomi Osaka in straight sets.
The Australian Open website said on Wednesday the seven-time women’s singles champion would not compete in Melbourne “on the advice of her medical team.” compete, ”Williams told the website. “Melbourne is one of my favorite cities to visit and I look forward to playing AO every year. I will miss the fans, but I am delighted to come back and compete at my highest level. ” Novak Djokovic was on the men’s list in the front row, indicating he will play at Melbourne Park from January 17. despite Australia’s strict regulations requiring all players, officials and fans to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Djokovic has declined to comment on his vaccination status in recent months, despite being included in the Serbian squad for the ATP Cup which begins January 1 in Sydney last week.
The nine-time Australian Open champion is tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the men’s record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles. Nadal is also signed up for the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 17, but Federer skips the tournament as he continues to recover from surgery.
Daniil Medvedev, who ended Djokovic’s one-calendar-year Grand Slam bid with a victory in the US Open final, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev feature above No.6 Nadal, who does not play for Spain in the ATP Cup.
Ash Barty tops the women’s entry list and will continue her quest to end a long drought for Australians at the tournament. No Australian has won the singles title since Chris O’Neil in 1978.
2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu said on Monday she would take a mental break from tennis and not compete early next season, including the Australian Open.
(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)