No. 4 seed, #5 Venus Williams of the USA withdrew after only six minutes of play from her third round match against No. 30 seed, #33 Andrea Petkovic of Germany.
Williams, who injured her pelvic muscle during her gruelling three-set match against Sandra Zahlavova, began serving in the second night match on Rod Laver Arena, but was soon broken by a determined-looking Petkovic, winning just one point. And, having stretched and failed for a Petkovic passing shot, the multi-Grand Slam champion hobbled to her chair after the seventh point. Head in her hands, and consulting the trainer, she made the decision to retire from a Grand Slam singles match for the first time since 1994.
“I just obviously couldn’t play. I mean, just couldn’t move. Just too painful,” said Williams. “The last 48 hours I did as much pain management and recovery that I could. I just hit some balls at 6:00 just kind of standing still. Just kind of warming up standing still and trying to give my best for the match.
You know, a lot times when you play, too, you get this adrenaline that blocks pain. But I just didn’t get enough of that today”.
“It’s super disappointing because this is just not how I envisioned my Australian Open being. I’ve never had to retire from a Grand Slam especially after working so hard to pull out the match the other day. Just hoping for some magic that I could recover. I just wanted to give 100%. I mean when I think of myself and my career I don’t make any excuses ever to myself or anyone. For me, it was just important to give 100%. I think I learn from experiences like this. If I’m not ready to play or if I’m still hurting maybe it’s better to stop. That’s just learning from life. I’ve learned now more or less what my limits are. Just learn from that the next time.”
“When I come back to play next time, I’ll be a 100%. So I won’t be back until whenever that is. Hopefully, who knows, maybe it’ll be for Fed Cup.”
Petkovic will now meet No. 14 seed, #16 Maria Sharapova of Russia.
