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Two-time defending champion Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Australian Open because of a foot injury.

Tournament director Craig Tiley released a statement Thursday saying Williams had pulled out of the Hopman Cup international mixed teams competition in Perth and the Australian Open in January.

It is the second consecutive Grand Slam tournament Williams will miss, and the loss of 2,000 rankings points could cost the 29-year-old star her place in the top 10.

Williams has played only one exhibition match since winning Wimbledon in July. She had surgery after cutting her foot on broken glass at a restaurant following her win at the All England Club. She returned to practice in September, but twice put off her comeback, missing the U.S. Open, the season-ending WTA tournament, the Fed Cup and a handful of tour events.

She said she had additional surgery last month and couldn't risk returning before the injury had properly healed.

"As I recently learned, pushing myself back into my intense training too early only caused me further injury and damage," Williams said. "While I desperately want to be back on the court and competing in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, it is imperative for my health that I continue to work with my doctors to ensure my foot heals properly.

"This decision, though heavy on my heart, is the right one. I am praying for a healthy recovery and I promise my Aussie fans and my fans around the world that I will be back better than ever as soon as I can be."

Williams has won the Australian Open five times and is a popular draw in Melbourne.

"Serena is a great champion and we will miss her in January," Tiley said.

When healthy, Serena and sister Venus Williams have dominated women's tennis during the past decade. Serena has won each of the four majors at least once, and she has 13 Grand Slam singles crowns in all.

Serena Williams finished No. 4 in the rankings in 2010 despite playing only six tournaments, including her wins at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

She missed three months early in the season with a left knee injury, and hasn't played a tour tournament since Wimbledon. Despite that, she spent most of the year at No. 1 — taking her career tally to 123 weeks atop the women's rankings — until being replaced by Caroline Wozniacki on Oct. 11.

While recuperating, Serena Williams has spent time pursuing her wide-ranging business and fashion interests and work for her foundation, which is dedicated to educating children in Africa.

Quote (eschutaz @ Nov 26 2010 03:52am)

I think she's so boring to watch, always the same old style, and there's two of them. Now Venus is getting older and that's noticable thank god. Hopefully they both retire soon, then I'll celebrate.

Henin on the other hand... please come back as soon as possible!

Quote (bygdubdiesel @ Nov 26 2010 05:40pm)

Wow you're a fucking idiot then.

Quote (eschutaz @ Nov 26 2010 07:44pm)

Why? Because I have an opinion shared by many others too? They were fun to watch when they just came because they were so unique, I thought it was great to have some blacks at the top in a "white-man's sport" and their power tennis was like something you'd never seen before, but then after a while it just got boring due to a non-thinking play style.

A bit like watching Roddick for the first time, you were like "Holy shit that server is HUGE" but then after a while it just got boring, the only match I ever rooted for Roddick was at the Wimbledon final against Federer because I thought he deserved to win playing like he had done, and also everytime he played against Murray (I always root for Murray's opponents so yeah..)

So after all I guess you're the fucking idiot for not respecting other people's opinions, you fucking idiot.


edit: as a matter of fact I think most women in tennis is fucking boring to watch because it all looks the same, you can barely tell any difference between all the russians playstyle, which is why it's so fascinating to watch players like Hingis and Henin because they use(d) their tactical knowledge far more than most other players does. The only reason today that I would root for a player with a boring play style is if they have a great personality (or look fucking hawt lol), and the Williams are nothing special when it comes to that IMO... nor is Henin for that matter but at least she makes up for it with her play style.

Quote (bygdubdiesel @ Nov 27 2010 02:20am)

I guess being a top 5 player of all time isn't interesting enough for you. To compare her to Roddick is an utter insult. And of course you just watch womans tennis for the boobs, I should have expected nothing less.