The four-time Olympic gold medallist made the announcement at a pre-Wimbledon press conference.

The now 39-year-old athlete won singles gold in London 2012 after beating Maria Sharapova in the final. She has also won three gold medals in the double’s competition with her sister Venus in 2000, 2008, and 2012.

Williams did not go into detail about why she wouldn’t be going to the Olympics, but this may be a sign that her career is beginning to slow down. Spaniard Rafael Nadal has also told reporters that he will not travel to Tokyo this summer due to him not wanting to make any health risks.

“There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision. I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry,” Williams told reporters.

Serena Williams joined fellow tennis legend Rafael Nadal on Sunday in saying she will not play at the Tokyo Olympics next month pic.twitter.com/1Pj1L09OxL

— Gabriel Hébert-Røuillier (@Gab_H_R) June 27, 2021

The tennis player has had a busy summer having already competed in the French Open and now preparing for Wimbledon.

She will begin the tournament against Belarusian player Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first round on Tuesday.

Now, she is aiming to win a record-equalling 24^th Grand Slam title. Williams is one away from the record held by Australian Margaret Court.

“In the past, it’s ( the Olympics) been a wonderful place for me, but I really haven’t thought about it, so I’m going to keep not thinking about it,” she added.

On Father’s Day, there’s still nothing better than this Nike ad of a 9-year-old @serenawilliams being taught by her dad.

Amazing pic.twitter.com/90zmWpyxqz

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) June 20, 2021

While Williams is skipping the Olympics, Japanese player Naomi Osaka plans to return to tennis in Tokyo 2020.

Osaka left the French Open after saying that press conferences were having a bad effect on her mental health. After some backlash from the organizers of the Open, she has been given widespread praise for her decision.

The Tokyo 2020 Games will begin on July 23^rd with the tennis starting the next day.

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Halep injured her calf in May during an Italian Open matchup against Angelina Kerber and has not played since.

The world number three tennis player had previously missed the 2021 French Open through injury.

Therefore, Wimbledon will be the second major championship she has missed this year.

We will miss you this year, @Simona_Halep – come back stronger in 2022 #Wimbledon

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 25, 2021

In her statement, the Romanian said that she had “gave it everything in order to be ready to play Wimbledon…..unfortunately [her] body didn’t cooperate and [she’ll] have to save that feeling for next year.”

Halep stated that the time on the sidelines has been hard for her and that missing two majors makes it even worse.

However, the two-time major winner  hopes that the experience will make her even stronger than she was before.

No timeline was given for her return to the court.

She closed her statement thanking everyone at Wimbledon for their understanding and support.

The Full Statement:

“It is with great sadness that I’m announcing my withdrawal from The Championships as my calf injury has not fully recovered.

“I gave it everything I had in order to be ready to play Wimbledon and after having such special memories from two years ago, I was excited and honoured to step back on these beautiful courts as defending champion.

“Unfortunately, my body didn’t cooperate and I’ll have to save that feeling for next year.

“I can honestly say that I’m really down and upset about having to take this decision. This period has been difficult but to miss the last two majors has made it even more challenging mentally and physically.

“We will see what the future holds but I’m hoping it will make me a stronger person and athlete.

“Thank you to everyone at Wimbledon for your understanding and support.”

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The 35-year-old is currently ranked as the world number three in tennis. He lost to Novak Djokovic in a tight game at the French Open semi-final last week.

Wimbledon will start Monday, 28^th June only two weeks after the end of the Roland-Garros.

The Spaniard has decided to rest between the two competitions to not risk getting any injuries.

“It’s never an easy decision but after listening to my body and discussing it with my team I understand that it is the right decision,” said Rafael Nadal.

“The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy.”

BREAKING: Rafael Nadal will not participate in Wimbledon or the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

More info to come.#Wimbledon #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/OUpZfeOJPy

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 17, 2021

The Spaniard added: “That is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition.”

The Spanish tennis player also struggled with a back injury at the start of the year.

His decision to miss Wimbledon will mean he will also miss out on the Summer Olympics in Tokyo which starts on 23^rd July.

Nadal last won Wimbledon in 2010 in a final against Roger Federer. He has also won two Olympic gold medals for men’s singles in London 2012 and for doubles in Rio 2016.

The world number three explained his choice to his fans through a post on Twitter:

“Sport prevention of any kind of excess in my body is a very important factor at this stage of my career in order to try to keep fighting for the highest level of competition and titles.

“I want to send a special message to my fans around the world, to those in the United Kingdom and Japan in particular.”

Hi all, I have decided not to participate at this year’s Championships at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo. It’s never an easy decision to take but after listening to my body and discuss it with my team I understand that it is the right decision

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) June 17, 2021

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The Scotsman beat Benoit Paire in two sets at 6-3 and 6-2 at the Queen’s Championships.

Murray showed a vintage performance at Queen’s, moving fast and dictating the play throughout.

The three-time Grand Slam champion was cheered by a half-full stadium throughout his impressive performance against the Frenchman.

Speaking to the BBC in a postmatch interview, the 34-year-old was overcome with emotion at being back on the court.

This man emotional scenes as Sir Andy Murray breaks down on court. Back at Queens with a win! pic.twitter.com/qZ0c3eTT3O

— Ben Rogers (@brogersjournal1) June 15, 2021

“For a first match, it was good. I love playing tennis and competing is why you put in the hard work.”

Murray’s recent training had been slow and restricted as he was recovering from a hip injury. He was surprised by his performance as he felt he would not be able to compete properly at this competition.

The Scottish tennis player has had his career hampered by injuries in the last few years with him also suffering a ‘freak’ groin injury at the Miami Open in March.

Paire continued his poor run of form, only having won one game in 13 tournaments.

Murray will face much tougher opponents in his next game as he faces top seed Matteo Berrettini in the next round of Queen’s.

Also, in the interview, he was surprised to hear that he would be playing his next match tomorrow as he was hoping for a day off.

Andy Murray en Queens pic.twitter.com/HZzbsaBhMa

— Tenis Zone (@TenisZoneOk) June 15, 2021

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Crowds will return to English sports next week after months of spectator-less matches, the UK government announced today. The allowance of spectators at football matches will come in accordance with the end of national lockdown.

There are of course rules regarding attendees, however. There will be an attendance caps in accordance with areas of different risk. Enforcement of social distancing will also apply. The maximum amount of spectators allowed in outdoor events will be capped at 4,000 in Tier 1 areas or at 50% depending at the capacity of the stadium. 2,000 spectators will be allowed into stadiums within Tier 2 areas. There will be a total of 1,000 attendees allowed into indoor events in Tier 1 and 2 areas. Crowds are to be completed banned in Tier 3 areas.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the aforementioned tier system today. The areas within each tier are yet to be decided. The respective tiers will be announced later this week, likely on Thursday.

The news of returning spectators comes after increased frustration from sports clubs. Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy expressed his concern over the absence of fans just before the announcement from the UK prime minister. “Our estimate for the current financial year of the potential loss of revenue, should the stadium remain closed to fans, is in excess of £150m. Clearly this would be an irrecoverable loss of income.”, Levy asserted.

This comes after Tottenham reported a loss of £63.9 million for the year ended June 30th.

There have been concerns from some members of the public regarding the safety of these new rules, particularly coming up to the Christmas period. Others have welcomed the return of spectators with severally clubs struggling financially throughout the last few months, especially “smaller” clubs.

The UK government have also announced the return of grassroots sports, having been suspended since November 5th.

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