Serena Williams shares horror pictures of fluid as she pulls out of Wimbledon

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the women's doubles at Wimbledon after sustaining a knee injury during her singles comeback, sharing stark images of the fluid that was drained from her knee. The 44-year-old marked her Grand Slam return with a three-set defeat to Maya Joint on Centre Court on Tuesday evening, but tweaked her right knee late in the first set.

Describing the extent of her injury, Serena posted images on social media showing syringes used to drain fluid from her knee. "The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match...yikes," she wrote. "The good news is my knee shouldn't swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that as hard as I tried I just wasn't able to get it ready for doubles."

Unable to compete alongside her sister Venus, aged 46, Serena announced her withdrawal on Instagram. "I'm heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles," she posted. "Coming back to compete again has been a gift and the opportunity to play alongside Venus once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could to be ready but unfortunately my knee just isn't ready to compete."

This withdrawal prevented what would have been the sisters' first Wimbledon doubles appearance together since winning the title in 2016, and their first Grand Slam doubles competition since the 2022 US Open. The pair have won Wimbledon together six times and fourteen Grand Slam titles overall.

Her representative Jill Smoller confirmed Serena left the site that night unaided. Tournament director Jamie Baker had arranged for the sisters to play Saturday to allow additional recovery time. Samantha Murray Sharan and Lanlana Tararudee have replaced them in the draw, while Venus continues in mixed doubles with Kevin Krawietz.