Serena Williams plays a return to Elena Rybakina during their fourth round match in Paris. File / AP

Gulf Today Report

Serena Williams became the latest casualty to pull out of the Tokyo Olympics after Rafael Nadal on Sunday.

Serena revealed that she will not participates at the Tokyo Games, not disclosing any reasons in particular.

“There are a lot of reasons for that I don’t want to discuss them right now,” said Serena on the sideline of press conference ahead of Wimbledon.

It is assumed that the ban on the families of the participants due to coronavirus protocols might have prompted the decision to quit the showpiece event.

Because playing at Olympic means Serena will have to stay away from her daughter for a considerable period of time.

Serena Williams during a press conference in London on Sunday. Reuters

Serena is one of the most decorated woman tennis players in the history of the Olympics. She has won one gold in singles and three in doubles.

Before Serena, it was tennis legend Nadal, who became the first star to pull out of the Olympics a week ago.

Serena is also chasing Margret Court’s record of 24 career Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon. The American has won a seven Wimbledon titles.

The record-equaling 24th Grand Slam title has been eluding her for quite sometimes. She is racing against the time as she turns 40 in November. With each passing day, age is taking its toll on her body.

It might be her last bid at the Wimbledon. She has been drawn to face Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in the opening round of the tournament.

However, an eight Wimbledon title followed by the US Open victory later this year can make her the most successful woman tennis player.

Serena won her last Grand Slam in 2017 at the Australian Open. Since then she has played four slam finals but failed to win in any of one of them.

But this time around she is relishing the prospect of winning eight Wimbledon as her fiercest rivals Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep, who defeated her at Wimbledon final in 2017.

She recently lost to Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the fourth round of the French Open.