Serena Williams Withdraws, Novak Djokovic Questionable For The Australian Open

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Serena Williams Withdraws, Novak Djokovic Questionable For The Australian Open
By Ken Miller, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Saturday, December 11, 2021 10:15am PST USA

Melbourne-- On Wednesday of this week the former world number one Serena Williams of the USA withdrew from the Australian Open citing injury while the participation of the current world number one Novak Djokovic remains questionable.

Djokovic of Serbia would be the defending champion at next year's Australian Open while Williams last won the tournament in 2017.

The 40 year old Williams last competed at Wimbledon on June 28th but was forced to retire from her first round match after slipping on the damp grass

Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Serena Williams of the USA

The 34 year old Djokovic has not only won the Australian Open the last three years, he has also won Wimbledon the last three years it was played (2018, 2019, 2021).

several times and suffering a right hamstring leg injury.

"Following the advice of my medical team, I have decided to withdraw from this year's Australian Open," Williams said in a statement on Wednesday.

"While this is never an easy decision to make, I am not where I need to be physically to compete. Melbourne is one of my favorite cities to visit and I look forward to playing at the AO every year. I will miss seeing the fans but am excited to return and compete at my highest level."

Possible comeback tennis tournaments for Williams could be at Indian Wells, California the week of March 7th or at Charleston, South Carolina the week of April 4th.

The 34 year old Djokovic has not only won the Australian Open the last three years, he has also won Wimbledon the last three years it was played (2018, 2019, 2021). Wimbledon was not played in 2020 due to Covid 19.

January's Australian Open has made Covid 19 vaccination mandatory for all tennis players, onsite workers and fans.

However Djokovic has refused to disclose his vaccination status so far.

The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters on Thursday that Djokovic would be subject to "any of the same rules that anyone else would be seeking to come to Australia. There are no special rules for tennis players or anyone else."

He added, "Those decisions are being made by medical officials and other officials, not by politicians."