Serena Williams is calling timeout.
On Wednesday, Sept. 30 the professional tennis player withdrew from the French Open prior to her scheduled second-round match with Bulgarian opponent Tsevatana Pironkova.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion said she injured her Achilles in the U.S. Open semifinal match on Thursday, Sept. 10 against Victoria Azarenka. Serena cited "struggling to walk" which she called a "tell-tale sign."
As she explained in an official statement, per NBC Sports, "In the second set, I just felt like I needed to walk with a limp, and that was no good. I had to focus on walking straight so I wasn't limping. I tried. I always give 100 percent. Everyone knows that. Maybe even more than 100 if that's possible. I take solace in that. I think Achilles is a real injury that you don't want to play with because that is not good if it gets worse."
Though the injury is notably serious, the jewelry designer added that her body is already on the mend.
"This is not a nagging injury. This is an acute injury. So, if it was my knee, that would be more, really devastating for me. But this is something that just happened, and it's super acute and that's totally different," said Serena. "So, I feel like my body is actually doing really, really well, and I just ran into, for lack of a better word, bad timing and bad luck, really, in New York. It happened, but my body is actually doing really, really well."
Additionally, the 39-year-old athlete said she'll "need four to six weeks of sitting and doing nothing, at least two weeks of just sitting down" followed by two weeks of "a little training."
In a somber Instagram post, Serena wrote, "Paris- I love you don't worry. I'll be back- love you all thanks for the support. Out but not for long."
Sounds like a lot of healing and more time with her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.