Sisters Serena and Venus Williams declined to participate in the Cincinnati WTA 1000 next week, becoming the latest high-profile players to withdraw from the tournament that serves as the set-up for the US Open, which begins in New York on August 30. .
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The Williams sisters and fellow American Sofia Kenin joined Swiss Roger Federer and Serbian Novak Djokovic – top of the men’s world rankings – who had announced their absence from the ATP and WTA tournament in Ohio.
Serena, a two-time winner at Cincinnati, said the leg injury she suffered last month at Wimbledon still worries her.
“Unfortunately, I will not play at the Western & Southern Open next week because I am still recovering from my leg injury I had at Wimbledon,” he said in a statement.
“I will miss all of my fans in Cincinnati, who I look forward to seeing every summer. I plan to be back on the court very soon,” added Serena.
The reason for Venus’s retirement was not disclosed, but Kenin said he was retiring with a foot injury “in hopes of playing the US Open later this month.”
Kenin added that “I feel like another week of recovery is needed.”
Swiss Federer, a seven-time Cincinnati champion, said last week that he would skip the tournament due to the same knee injury that kept him out of the Tokyo Olympics.
For his part, Djokovic had announced on social media Monday that he would skip Cincinnati, saying he needed more recovery time after the Tokyo Games.
