Serena Williams on Sunday, 27 June, said that she will not play at the Tokyo Olympics next month. She said this during her pre-Wimbeldon video conference with reporters.
“I'm actually not on the Olympic list, so... Not that I'm aware of. If so, then I shouldn't be on it,” Williams was quoted as saying by Associated Press.
“There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision. I don’t really want to – I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry,” the 39-year-old tennis champion said.
On being asked what it is like to sit out, Williams said that it has been a wonderful place for her in the past but she hasn’t thought about it and that she would like to keep not thinking about it.
Serena made her Olympics debut in 2000 in Sydney, winning Gold in the singles and women's doubles at London 2012. Her other two other medals came in the doubles at Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008.
Other than Serena, Rafael Nadal, and Dominic Thiem had earlier said that they will skip the Olympics, which is to open on 23 July.
Roger Federer has said that he decide on the Olympics only after he sees how he performs at Wimbledon.
"With the team we decided we're going to reassess the situation after Wimbledon because ... obviously if I play really good here or really bad, I think it has an impact on how everything might look in the summer," the Swiss ace told the media at Wimbledon on Saturday.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)