The ITF's Katrina Adams stays on the front lines for women with the Tory Burch Foundation Sports Fellowship

Following the disappointing US Open announcements of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, Serena Williams announced she will also be missing this year's US Open. Suffering from a torn hamstring, the 23-time major champion decided to follow medical guidance and allow for her body to completely heal before taking the court again. Serena hasn't competed since being forced to retire from her Wimbledon opener after suffering from a hard fall on the All-England Club grass.

Serena's long-time coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently discussed the situation and knew her chances of playing the last major of the season were in jeopardy.

“It showed that her injury had partially healed, but not totally, and in a way that was very insufficient for her to be able to move,” Mouratoglou said in an interview with Tennis Majors.

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Serena had a magnetic resonance imaging scan 10 days ago and the results showed that her injury wasn't completely healed. On top of all this, the 39-year-old hadn't ran or sprinted in five to six weeks. Just last week, Serena made progression to restricted movement, but experienced pain and it was clear she wouldn't be able to move normally.

This marks the first time since 1997 the US Open or any other major tournament will be played without Serena, Nadal or Federer. That's nearly a quarter century ago and with that many believe the end of an era is nearing. However, Tennis Channel analyst Martina Navratilova believes Nadal can still do damage as he's younger than both Serena and Federer.

In terms of Serena getting to 24 Grand Slam titles, many people are condemning her for even trying often saying she's hurting her legacy in the process. Navratilova believes these people are simply "full of it."

“She’s still Serena. I don’t think winning 24 makes her any greater. The fact she’s trying is to be commended. The people saying she shouldn’t have tried because she’s just hurting her legacy, they are full of it. My goodness. The only people who never fail are the ones that never try," she told the New York Times.

Although Serena's future is unclear at the moment, Mouratoglou revealed no talks of retirement have been had.

“She still wants to play and still loves to play,” he said.

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