World tennis superstar, Serena Williams has announced that she will not be participating in the Tokyo Olympics.
By that announcement, she has now become the latest big name to shun the games.
The 23-times Grand Slam singles tennis champion said this on Sunday at a pre-Wimbledon press conference.
‘I’m actually not on the Olympic list not that I’m aware of. If so, then I shouldn’t be on it.’
She declined to explain her reasoning, adding: ‘There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision. I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry.’
The women’s world number 8 joins Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem in deciding against competing in Tokyo.
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have not yet committed to taking part.
Africa Today News, New York can confirm that the Tokyo Games start on 23 July.
The 39-year-old, who has four gold medals and made her debut at the Sydney Games in 2000, had hinted earlier she was reluctant to go.
Her reason was because she would not be able to take her three-year-old daughter Olympia with her.
Serena Williams is currently gearing up once again to equal Margaret Court’s tally of 24 Grand Slam titles.
She faces Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich in her first-round match at the grass-court Grand Slam on July 29.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK