Serena Williams announced Friday that she has pulled out of two forthcoming tournaments in China citing an ongoing shoulder injury. "I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open or the China Open due to continuing issues with my right shoulder," Williams said in a statement.
"I have been practising and playing but my shoulder is still not fit for tournament play," she added. Williams has not been seen on court since the US Open earlier this month, where she was knocked out by Czech Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals and lost her long-held position as world number one to eventual champion Angelique Kerber. The 22 time Grand Slam champion has won only one Slam this year - defending her title at Wimbledon. A shoulder injury then forced her to withdrawn from tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati, and the same problem appeared to hamper her in Rio, where her hopes of a fifth Olympic gold medal were crushed in the third round by Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.
But it was a sore left knee that she mentioned as a reason for her ousting at Flushing Meadows - the second consecutive year the six time US Open champion had been knocked out in the semis. Williams' chances of reclaiming the world number one spot - which she held for 186 consecutive weeks, 309 weeks in total - before the end of the season have now significantly diminished.