Serena Williams’ run at the Eastbourne International came to an end after her doubles partner Ons Jabeur suffered an injury.
The Tunisian ranked third in the world in singles has injured her right knee, Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) said in a social media post.
Williams and Jabeur had won their first two matches of the tournament and were set to play Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia and Poland’s Magda Linette in the semi-finals.
The WTA 500 tournament is the first event the 23-time singles major winner has participated in since injuring herself at last year’s Wimbledon.
The 40-year-old, who has seven Wimbledon singles titles to her name, will enter the tournament as a wildcard when the main draw which starts on Monday.
Despite the sheen being taken off, Eastbourne still has plenty of intrigues to offer during the final stages.
Eighth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko stormed into the semifinals of the singles competition with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Anhelina Kalinina.
The Latvian recorded eight aces and broke Kalinina seven times during the 69-minute win.
Ostapenko will play Italy’s Camila Giorgi next who also made quick work of her opponent Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-1. The No. 12 seed advanced in 64 minutes
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic also advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Harriet Dart of Britain with the 14th seed to play No. 15, Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, in the semis.
