Serena Williams opens up about Devastating Back Injury during Rogers Cup Final

Serena Williams opened up about her recent withdrawal from the Rogers Cup final due to a back injury that left her in pain for days. She now hopes to bounce back in the upcoming US Open where she will be competing for her 24th Grand Slam title.

The tennis great had to cut her Rogers Cup final run short after suffering from back spasms that left her unable to move. This caused her to painfully retire from the tournament and hand over the championship to her opponent, 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu of Canada.

A Difficult Decision to Make

Four games into the first set, she requested a medical timeout. Minutes later, she knew she had to make a difficult decision, which left her in tears as she spoke with her trainer. She then confirmed that she would be retiring from the tournament.

Although the moment was heartbreaking to watch, it included a heartwarming gesture from Andreescu, who approached Williams to comfort her and put a smile on her face before exchanging a hug.

Explaining the Situation

Of course, after the match, she spoke with reporters about what happened, explaining more about the injury.

“It started yesterday in my match and, it just got worse. My whole back just completely spasmed to the point where I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t really move. So, I was just trying to figure out how do you play a match where you have no rotation.”

Bouncing Back from the Injury

Since Serena's experienced this type of back spasm before, she already knew it wouldn't be healed until 24 to 36 hours later.

“It’s a little frustrating for me because I know that I can play, I just can’t play today.”

After her devastating forfeiture at the competition in Toronto, the 37-year-old is looking forward to recovering well to compete at the US Open, where she hopes to win her 24th Grand Slam title later this month.