Williams pulls out of Swedish Open as she fails to recover from illness

World No. 1 Serena Williams has reportedly pulled out the Swedish Open that would start next week as she failed to recover from the illness that dramatically ended her Wimbledon campaign.

The American tennis ace, who was the defending champion at the Bastad claycourt event, withdrew from the Wimbledon doubles event after suffering from what the WTA described as a 'viral illness'.

According to Sport24, Williams said that she decided not to play in Bastad, because she is still not feeling 100 percent.

Williams added that she wants to be in perfect condition to go back on court, but unfortunately it is not the case.

The world number one is really hoping to be able to get back to training from next week.

Williams also said that Bastad was her favourite tournament that she played in last year, thus she is very disappointed not to go back there, but she added that there is still next year, so she cannot wait to go back there.