Serena Williams announced her withdrawal from the Miami Open on Saturday, citing a left knee injury.
Williams was seeded No. 10 and came into the event with a first-round bye. She won 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 against Rebecca Peterson in a second round matchup on Friday. Williams didn't appear to suffer any sort of ailment during or after the match, nor did she mention being in any pain following that match, only mentioning that she wasn't pleased with her performance.
However, the issue was enough to force her to pull out of the tournament over the weekend.
⚠️ DRAW ALERT ⚠️
— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 23, 2019
Due to a left knee injury, @serenawilliams has withdrawn. No. 18 seed Qiang Wang of China will advance to the fourth round.
We wish Serena a speedy recovery and hope to see her back in Miami next year.#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/tiJG5XWc4Y
"I am disappointed to withdraw from the Miami open due to a left knee injury," Williams said in a release. "It was an amazing experience to play at the Hard Rock Stadium this year and would like to thank the Miami Open for putting on an amazing event. I hope to be back next year to play at this one-of-a-kind tournament in front of the incredible fans here in Miami."
Williams, 37, has won the event a record eight times and was hoping to extend that record to nine, but instead she'll be making a premature exit from her second straight event. A few weeks ago, Williams withdrew from Indian Wells in the middle of a match match due to an unspecified illness. Williams hasn't completed an event since reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January.
As a result of Williams' withdrawal, China's Qiang Wang will advance to the fourth round.
