Serena Williams withdraws from French Open

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the French Open due to an Achilles injury. The three-times Roland Garros champion made the decision ahead of her second-round meeting with Tsvetana Pironkova.

The US Open finalist has been managing the problem whilst trying to win an elusive 24th Grand Slam singles title having first noticed the injury during her defeat by Victoria Azarenka at Flushing Meadows.

"I think I need four to six weeks of sitting and doing nothing," Williams said. "I have been struggling to walk so that's a telltale sign that I should try to recover.

"Achilles is an injury you don't want to play with - I think it was one of the worst, don't want to get to that point, I want it to get better."