Serena Williams cries out of Rogers Cup Final

Serena Williams was forced to retire with a back injury on Sunday as the American superstar quit while trailing Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu 3-1 in the Rogers Cup final.

Williams, who seemed fine on court, suddenly sat crying in her chair before retiring 19 minutes into the match with back spasms.

Struggled to get the words out, an emotional Williams told fans that “I’m sorry I couldn’t do it today. I tried but I just couldn’t do it,” an emotional Williams, who

“It’s been a tough year but we’ll keep going.”


According to Williams, the spasms began during her three-set semi-final win over Czech Marie Bouzkova on Saturday.

“I was just trying to figure out how do you play a match where you have no rotation?” said Williams.

“And I don’t want to get this far and not at least try. I think I would have really regretted not at least going out there and seeing maybe if a miracle happened.”

Also, Williams, who is due to compete in Cincinnati next week, said she has experienced back spasms a lot in her career.

“They’re incredibly painful, but it goes away after, like, 24, 36, maybe 48 hours, and like clockwork,” said Williams.

“In that first phase, it is incredibly painful, to a point where I usually don’t get out of bed. So, if it’s what typically happens, I will be fine, but I have to wait and see.”