On Friday, the tournament announced Serena Williams would be withdrawing from the upcoming Bank of the West Classic with an elbow injury. The tournament starts Aug 3-9 in Stanford California at Stanford University.
Williams conveyed her displeasure and noted, ”The tournament is one of my favorites and the fans have always been so generous and supportive of me.” Serena says “I’m disappointed to have to withdraw from the Bank of the West Classic, but I need to get my elbow back to 100 percent.”
Williams has been dealing with the injury for most of the year. The injury caused Serena to withdraw from the Italian Open and take some time off earlier this year. Serena has a total of three losses for the 2015 calendar year. Her only on court loss came from Petra Kvitova at the Madrid Open. The other two came via walkover.
No. 1 Serena Williams won her 21st Grand Slam at Wimbledon and completed the “Serena Slam”. In the 2002-2003 season, Serena also accomplished the “Serena Slam”. Williams is just one Grand Slam away from tieing Steffi Graf with 22 Grand Slams. A win at the U.S. Open will secure number 22 and also give Serena the calendar Grand Slam. The last person to accomplish the calendar Grand Slam was Steffi Graf.
Good friend Caroline Wozniacki will make her debut at Bank of the West Classic as the top seed. This is the first major event on the road to the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open will start later this month on August 31.
