Muscle injury forces Serena Williams to withdraw from French Open

Owing to an injury, American tennis ace Serena Williams was forced to withdraw ahead of a fourth-round French Open match against Maria Sharapova.

According to Women's Tennis Association (WTA), the injury helped Sharapova bolt into the quarterfinals stage.

"I've unfortunately been having issues with my pec muscle and unfortunately it's been getting worse," WTA quoted Williams as saying.

The round of 16-match between the Tennis greats was set to be the fourth match on Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday (local time).

"Right now, I can't actually serve so it's actually hard to play when I can't physically serve," Williams said.

"It didn't start before I got here. The first time I felt it was against Goerges in my last match. That's when I started to feel it. It was really painful and I didn't know what it was," added Williams.

It was her first appearance at this French Open after the birth of her daughter in September.

"I made a promise to myself and to my coach and to my team that if I'm not at least 60% or 50%, then I probably shouldn't play. The fact that I physically can't serve at all is a good indication that maybe I should just go back to the drawing board and stay positive and try to get better and not get it to a point where it could be a lot worse."

She will stay in Paris to undergo an MRI for her injury.