Venus Williams pulls out of Wimbledon with back injury

Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has reportedly pulled out of the tournament due to an ongoing lower back injury.

The American tennis star, who has won seven Grand Slam titles in all, also pulled out of the doubles there with her sister Serena because of her back problem, Sport24 reports.

Stating that she would not be able to participate in Wimbledon this year, Williams wrote on her Facebook page that she is disappointed that she has been forced to pull out as she has always loved the Championships.

However, the former World No.1 admitted that she needed time to let her back heal, saying that she looked forward to returning to the courts as soon as possible, with her goal being to return to Mylan World Team Tennis on July 8 in Washington DC.

Williams, who won the last of her Wimbledon singles titles back in 2008, also thanked her fans for their support and assured them that they would be seeing her soon.

Williams suffered her earliest French Open exit in 12 years when she crashed to a first-round defeat to Poland's Urszula Radwanska at Roland Garros last month, the report added.