Serena Williams Joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal in Pulling Out of U.S. Open

Serena Williams joined two other notable tennis stars in announcing her withdrawal from the upcoming U.S. Open on Wednesday.

Williams wrote on Instagram, "After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the US Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring."

She continued, "New York is one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favorite places to play - I'll miss seeing the fans but will be cheering everyone on from afar. Thank you for your continued support and love. I'll see you soon."

Shortly after Williams' announcement, the U.S. Open's Twitter account tweeted, "Get well soon, @serenawilliams."

Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, also posted on social media about the withdrawal, saying, "Since she had to pull out from Wimbledon, @serenawilliams has been fully committed to her recovery and we've done everything we could so that she could compete at the @usopen. But her body isn't ready. It is heartbreaking, but this is the only possible decision."

Over the course of her professional career, Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, trailing only Margaret Court, who won 24 titles.

During a June match at Wimbledon, Williams suffered an injury to her right leg and has not competed since.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal recently announced they will also pull out of the U.S. Open, which is set to begin Monday, because of injuries.

In an Instagram post on August 15, Federer said he decided to undergo surgery on his right knee, forcing him to miss "many months."

"I've been doing a lot of chats with doctors about my knee, getting all the information since I hurt myself further during the grass court season at Wimbledon. It's just not the way to go forward," Federer said in the Instagram video.

He went on, "To feel better, I'll need surgery. I decided to do it. I'll be on crutches for many weeks and out of the game for many months. It'll be difficult in some ways but at the same time, I know it's the right thing to do because I want to be healthy I want to be running around later as well."

At Wimbledon, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and did not compete in the Tokyo Olympics because of his knee injury.

Nadal posted a similar video on social media, saying on August 20 he would end his 2021 tennis season because of a foot injury.

"The foot is not the proper way today and during the last year I was not able to practice and prepare myself the way I need to to be competitive at the standard I want to be. So we had to make that decision, but I am confident that I will recover myself 100 percent and I will be able to fight again for the most important things," Nadal said in an Instagram video.

Both Nadal and Federer have won 20 Grand Slam singles titles. They are tied with Novak Djokovic for the men's record.

This year's U.S. Open will be the first time since 1997 that Williams, Federer and Nadal have not competed in a singles match, according to the Associated Press.