With eye on WTA Finals, Serena Williams pulls out of Wuhan and China Opens

If you’re having withdrawals from top-tier tennis—and given the particularly busy summer we just experienced, that’s understandable—you’re probably looking forward to next week’s Wuhan Open. The Premier-level tournament is loaded with talent; 16 of the Top 18 players are scheduled to compete. The lowest direct acceptance into the 56-player draw was world No. 55 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

But it is worth noting who won’t be in Wuhan—specifically, Serena Williams. The world No. 2 announced on Thursday that she was pulling out of both the Wuhan Open and the following week’s China Open with a right shoulder injury. Williams’ primary aim is to be ready for the season-ending championships in Singapore, which begin 30 days from now.

As Ben Rothenberg indicates, this is especially good news for Angelique Kerber, the Australian and U.S. Open champion who supplanted Williams in the rankings after Flushing Meadows.

Should Williams end up not playing Singapore, her fall “season” would mirror last year’s, in which she didn’t play any tournaments after a semifinal loss at the U.S. Open.