Tokyo Olympics: Serena Williams confirms she will not take part in the Games
Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam champion, says she will not be participating at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam champion, says she will not be participating at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
While speaking at her pre-Wimbledon video conference with the reporters, the US tennis star revealed the news.
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"I’m actually not on the Olympic list. ... Not that I’m aware of. If so, then I shouldn’t be on it,” Williams said.
Williams, who is now 39 years old, has won four medals at the Olympics, in both singles and doubles at the 2012 London Olympics — which held the tennis competition at the All England Club — and in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics.
She won all her doubles golds with sister Venus Williams.
“There's a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision,” Williams said Sunday, the day before the start of main-draw action at Wimbledon, where she will try to collect her 24th Grand Slam singles title. “I don’t really want to — I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry.”
Asked what it will be like to sit out the Summer Games, Williams replied: “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.”
Other top tennis players such as Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem also have said they'll skip the trip to Japan, where the Olympics open on July 23, a year after being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Roger Federer said Saturday he hasn't decided whether to participate in the Tokyo Games and will figure that out after he sees how things go at Wimbledon.
(With inputs from AP)