Serena withdraws from China Open

Beijing, China (SportsNetwork.com) – U.S. Open champion Serena Williams withdrew from the China Open ahead of her quarterfinal match against Sam Stosur due to a left knee injury.

Williams, who was the defending champion in Beijing, retired from a match last week at the Wuhan Open due to a virus.

“I started to feel pain this week,” Williams said. “It throbs just sitting, standing. I felt it mostly serving because I’m landing on my left knee. That was really killer for me.”

Williams, who captured her 18th Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open last month, beat Jelena Jankovic for last year’s Beijing title and also captured this event in 2004.

Stosur will move on to the semifinals of a premier mandatory-level event for the first time since Indian Wells in 2010.

Categorized in: Tennis