No Williams Sister In This Year's Australian Open; Fans Sad

Last year at the Australian Open, Serena Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam, thus setting the record for the most number of Grand Slam titles in the Open era. Now that the new mom is taking time off and pulled out of the tournament, the onus was on her sister and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams to take the family name higher in the scoreboard this year.

But sadly there will be no Williams sister in the Australian Open as Venus was knocked out in the first round in straights sets by 20-year-old Belinda Bencic on Monday (Jan 15).

Serena defeated her sister, Venus Williams, in the 2017 Australian Open last year when she was two months pregnant

The fifth seed and last year's finalist Venus lost the game 6-3, 7-5 to the world number 78 in a match that lasted two hours.

JUST IN: @serenawilliams is OUT of the @AustralianOpen.

Wishing her all the best for the rest of 2018. pic.twitter.com/Qh8NbkQU6D

— #7TENNIS ? (@7tennis) January 5, 2018

This is for first time since 1997 that there will be no Williams sister in the second round at Melbourne Park, sweating it out on the court.

The top five seeds were – Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Garbine Muguruza, Elina Svitolina, and Venus Williams

Serena withdrew her name from the first grand slam of the 2018 season following the birth of her daughter.

The ace tennis player has given birth to a baby girl in September last year. Almost four months after giving birth, the new mom returned to the tennis court in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. However, she lost her first encounter.

“My coach and team always said ‘only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way’. I can compete — but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time. With that being said, and even though I am disappointed about it, I’ve decided not to compete in the Australian Open this year,” Serena said, CNN reported

We couldn’t be more sad!

READ: Pregnant Serena Williams Poses Nude For Vanity Fair

Also Read: When Serena Williams Handled John McEnroe’s Sexist Jibe Like A Boss

READ: Serena Williams Talks About Sexism

Read More Stories By Ria Das