Serena Williams Retires at Indian Wells

The return of Serena Williams to the world of tennis, following a five-week break, ended rather early when she decided to retire from the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday due to a viral illness.

Williams vs Muguruza

Williams managed to race to an incredible 3-0 lead against Garbine Muguruza, a two-time major champion, in their third-round match before dropping six successive games as well as the first set 6-3.

“When you look at the score, it might have seemed that I started great. However, I wasn’t feeling physical well at all,” Williams stated in a recent interview.

Between sets when the changeover occurred, Williams requested to speak to her trainer. She managed to go out and unfortunately lost the first game during the second set. Soon after that, the match was declared over, and Serena Williams walked off the court.

“Before the match, I didn’t feel too great, and it just got worse from there with extreme fatigue and extreme dizziness,” Williams stated. “I will get better and prepare for Miami.”

Muguruza is the only tennis player to have defeated both Venus and Serena Williams in tournament finals. “It’s undoubtedly a weird feeling as I don’t feel like I won,” Muguruza stated to reporters. She merely looked forward to the next time the two will meet on the court.

Muguruza credited Serena Williams for being extremely dominating when the match was underway. “I quickly had to adapt my positions a little bit on the court, especially when it came to how I was hitting the ball. It took a few tries to get it right,” Muguruza stated. “I felt far more comfortable once I did.”

Serena Williams

Serena Williams, who is currently 37 years old, played her first major tournament since late January during the Australian Open where she, unfortunately, lost during the quarterfinals.

This is the second time in 4 years where Serena Williams had to withdraw from a tennis tournament. She managed to return to the desert during 2015 following a 15-year boycott. During the same year, she managed to reach the semi-finals before she had to withdraw from playing against Simona Help. She also missed 2017 due to her pregnancy.

Rafael Nadal managed to breeze past Jarden Donaldson, while Roger Federer defeated Peter Gojowczyk in the second round. Federer was able to save 6 of 7 break chances while playing the Germany-born opponent he lost only two points on his serve during the set.

“If I perhaps served a little better, I believe things would have progressed faster,” Federer stated. “However, towards the end, it was a complicated second set, and its perhaps also exactly what I required.”

Federer has managed to reach the desert tournament final in his last four appearances, claiming victory two years ago. Overall, he boasts with a total of 5 titles at Indian Wells. He also managed to win his 100th title in his career in Dubai last weekend.

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