DOHA: World No. 1, Serena Williams of the US has withdrawn from the Qatar Total Open 2014 due to a back injury sustained at the Australian Open, Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) announced yesterday.
Williams has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles, most recently at the 2013 US Open, and 13 Grand Slam doubles titles (all with her sister, Venus Williams). She has a total of 58 WTA Tour singles titles and 22 WTA Tour doubles titles.
Tournament Director, Saad Al Mohannadi, said of her withdrawal: “It is very unfortunate that Serena cannot join us at this year’s event. Having reached the final last year, we were looking forward to seeing if she could make another strong run for the title.”
Al Mohannadi added: “We hope she recovers soon and wish her the best of luck for the rest of the season, and we look forward to her joining us again next year.”
QTF also announced that Sabine Lisicki of Germany, has withdrawn due to a right shoulder injury. These two withdrawals will see Monica Niculescu (ROU) and Karolina Pliskova (CZE) move into the main draw.
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