Serena Williams pulls out of Italian Open with achilles injury

23-time Grand Slam champion and American tennis player Serena Williams has withdrawn from the upcoming Italian Open due to a an achilles injury.

Confirming the news, the 38-year-old said that she has decided to pull out of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia after sustaining the injury to her achilles tendon and is looking forward to return to the court soon.

“I regretfully must withdraw from The Internazionali BNL d'Italia due to an Achilles strain.I’m so humbled by the continuous support from my fans in Rome and I look forward to making my return soon," the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) quoted Williams as saying.

Earlier this summer, the former world No.1 made a return to action with the Top Seed Open before making it to the semi-finals of the US Open, which was the first Grand Slam of the year after the game was halted due to COVID-19.

Williams picked up the injury during her last-four US Open tie when she took a medical timeout before slumping to a 6-1, 3-6, 3-6 defeat at the hands of Victoria Azarenka to crash out of the tournament.

"I just was stretching.I ran for a shot, and off that first step that I took, it was a long point. It wasn't my ankle, it was actually my Achilles. It just overstretched. It was pretty intense. Then that was that," Williams explained following the match.

With the withdrawal, the four-time Rome champion has now joined two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu to pull out of the tournament.

Earlier, top-ranked Australian player Ashleigh Barty had also revealed that she would miss the upcoming tournament in Rome after announcing that she has decided to shut down her season due to coronavirus concerns and travel restrictions.