BREAKING: Serena Williams to skip Tokyo Olympics
Serena Williams
23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams will not feature in the Tokyo Olympics. Just a day before Wimbledon, Williams confirmed that her name is not on the US team list.
“Yeah, I’m actually not on the Olympic list, so… Not that I’m aware of. If so, then I shouldn’t be on it,” she told the press ahead of Wimbledon. Williams had expressed her concerns over travelling to Tokyo amidst the coronavirus pandemic last month too.
On Sunday, Williams said that she won’t reveal the exact reasons today. “There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision. I don’t really want to – I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry,” she said.
When asked to give more clarity, Williams said, “I have not thought about it. In the past it’s been a wonderful place for me. I really haven’t thought about it, so I’m going to keep not thinking about it.”
Serena Williams- An Olympic legend
Serena Williams is the most decorated tennis Olympian alongwith elder sister Venus Williams. She has 4 Olympic golds to her name- one in singles and 3 in doubles. Her Singles gold came at the 2012 London games where she beat Maria Sharapova in the gold medal match.
Serena also won the women’s doubles gold at London with Venus. They beat Czech pairing of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the final. Serena was already a two time Olympic winner coming into London. She first won the gold with Venus in at the 2000 Sydney games, where they thrashed Dutch pairing of Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans in straight sets 6-1,6-1.
The Williams’ sisters continued their domination again at the 2008 Beijing games, defeating Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final, dropping just two games.
Only Venus Williams has more medals than Serena at the Olympics in tennis. Venus has 5 medals to her name- 3 golds with Serena, a Singles gold in 2000 and a mixed doubles silver in 2016.
Lakshya Chopra
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