Serena Williams has pulled out of the French Open ahead of her second-round match against Tsvetana Pironkova.
The 23-time grand slam champion came into the tournament nursing an Achilles injury she picked up during her semi-final defeat at the US Open earlier this month.
Williams said: “After I warmed up – it was a very short warm-up – I talked to my coach and I was like, ‘What do you think?’ We both thought about it and we really realised that it likely wasn’t the best for me to play today.
“I love playing in Paris, I really wanted to give an effort here. My Achilles didn’t have time to properly heal. I’m struggling to walk so that’s kind of a tell-tale sign that I should try to recover.”
Williams estimated she needs four to six weeks to recover, which is likely to mean the end of her season.
She was sluggish during the first set of her first-round victory over Kristie Ahn, but won the second set to love and there was no indication afterwards that she was considering her future in the tournament.