Sports

Serena Williams has breakdown, quits doubles match

Disoriented and out of sorts, Serena Williams retired due to illness from her second-round doubles match with sister Venus on Tuesday.

The question is: What was wrong with the five-time Wimbledon singles champion?

Serena, who was ousted in the third round of the singles tournament by France’s Alize Cornet, looked out of it, needing a doctor on court shortly before the start of the match against Kristina Barrois of Germany and Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele. At one point, Serena hunched over and covered her face with her hands.

On the official Wimbledon Twitter account, a post said “the word from the referee’s office is that Serena Williams is suffering from a viral illness.”

In a statement emailed to The Associated Press through her agent, Serena Williams said she was “heartbroken” to not be able to continue playing.

“I really wanted to compete, but this bug just got the best of me,” she said.

She appeared woozy and discombobulated once the match began, stumbling at one point as she attempted to serve, hitting faults that bounced before reaching the net.

At love-40, chair umpire Kader Nouni took the unusual step of climbing down and walking over to speak to Serena. She then served another double-fault to trail 3-0.

Serena and Venus walked to the sideline holding hands, and Nouni announced to the crowd: “Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, Miss Williams has to retire.”

ESPN commentators had questioned on air what was afflicting Serena.

“This is not an illness,” Pam Shriver said, according to Business Insider. “It’s almost like she has taken something that makes her feel dizzy, disoriented, and she cannot reach up and strike the ball.”

“Is it a virus?” Chris Evert asked. “Is it something unintentional or intentional in her system that they may drug test for?”

With AP