Serena Williams withdraws from the Australian Open

There will be one less big name in the Australian Open this year, as reigning Women’s Singles champion Serena Williams has pulled out.

Serena Williams welcomed a baby into the world this past year, as baby girl Alexis Olympia Ohania was born on September 1. Williams has completed in only one tournament since giving birth, and while she recently stated she feels close to being back to 100 percent, she is just not there yet. Because of that, Williams will not be competing in the Australian Open this year, leaving the tournament short of it’s greatest Women’s competitor of all time.

Williams is a seven-time winner of the tournament, with her last championship coming last year. Williams beat her sister, Venus, in the Women’s Singles final, 6-4, 6-4, capping an incredible season. Serena and Venus have won the Women’s Doubles championship four times, as she has been pretty dominant down under in her career. Williams took to Twitter to explain her reasoning for missing the event on Thursday.

At 36 years old, it is very possible that her best years are behind her. However, she showed last year that there is plenty left in the tank, so expect her to be back to 100 percent once she deems herself ready. Williams holds the most Grand Slam titles of any active players, as her 23 total titles mixed between singles, doubles, and mixed is only second all-time to Margaret Court.

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The Australian Open was founded 112 years ago, with the first tournament being played in 1905. The prize money for the 2018 tournament will be $55 million, so missing out on the event will certainly cost Williams some money. The tournament will run from January 15-28 in Melbourne, Australia, and will be played at Melbourne Park. It will be the 106th tournament all-time, and is the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.