Clutching her side and crying out in pain, Venus Williams lasted just seven points Friday in her third-round match Friday at the Australian Open and withdrew from a Grand Slam singles match for the first time in her career. After losing the first game of her third-round match to Germany's Andrea Petkovic and trailing in the second, Williams stretched to her right to return a serve. She hit the ball, then reached toward the right side of her stomach. It was soon clear she had to stop. "Obviously I just couldn't play," Williams said. "I couldn't move, it was too painful." Williams' right thigh already was heavily bandaged from an injury she sustained in the first set of her second-round match Wednesday, a three-set victory against Sandra Zahlavova. Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/aus11/news/story?id=6044258
It's really a shame that she had to exit in this fashion, I have no doubt Venus would have gone deep in the open as she does at most of her slam appearances.
