Serena Williams denies rumors surrounding Wimbledon exit

Serena Williams says she has "nothing to hide" regarding her mysterious illness at Wimbledon.

Williams withdrew during a doubles match two days after her third-round defeat in singles to Alize Cornet. She was seen by doctors during the warm-up and hit four consecutive double faults before retiring.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Williams said she had been in bed with flu-like symptoms for three days before the match, and described drug testers arriving at her Wimbledon apartment the following morning.

"At seven, as I was throwing up, she knocks on my door,” Williams said. “I’m like, 'C’mon.'"

Returning to competition at Stanford, Williams claimed she was unaware of the rumors—which ranged from drinking to drug use to pregnancy—surrounding her until later. She also said she did not know what the problem was, but planned to have medical tests during the offseason.

"I have nothing to hide,” Serena said. “No, I didn’t take anything. If you want to ask me if I took drugs? -- I didn’t take drugs. I’m not on drugs. I’ve heard it all. I’m not pregnant, I wasn’t pregnant. Although I think a baby would be great, but there’s a time and place for everything. But no, I don’t do drugs. Never did ’em. I’m scared of ’em. I’m not on that stuff."

The WTA No. 1 also indicated that, in retrospect, she should not have played the doubles match, but did so to avoid the appearance that she did not want to play following her singles defeat.

"I should have just taken that moment and said, ‘What the heck are you doing? Just stay in bed today,’" said Williams.

Since Wimbledon, Williams has played three events, reaching the semifinals of Montreal in between winning titles at Stanford and Cincinnati.