Former World No.1 Serena Williams has withdrawn from next week’s Rogers Cup citing personal reasons.
Williams was intially projected to face rival Alizé Cornet in the first round after Friday night’s draw ceremony, with a rematch of this year’s Wimbledon final with Angelique Kerber looming in the Round of 32.
The American returned to tennis in March at the BNP Paribas Open, following a 14-month absence during which she married husband Alexis Ohanian and gave birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. She made the third round in the California desert and stormed into the second week of Roland Garros, her first major appearance since breaking Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record at the 2017 Australian Open.
Serena later shook off a pectoral injury incurred in Paris to return to a Grand Slam final less than 10 months after giving birth, falling just short of becoming the first mother to win a Wimbledon title since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.
Her place in the draw will be taken by Germany’s Tatjana Maria, another of the tour’s traveling moms who recently captured her maiden WTA titla at the Mallorca Open and upset 2017 Rogers Cup champion Elina Svitolina in the first round of Wimbledon.