Venus Withdraws From Wimbledon

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Five-time Wimbledon champ Venus Williams won’t play at the grass court Grand Slam for the first time since her 1997 debut, as the 33-year-old pulled out of the tournament Tuesday with a lower-back injury.

Williams has played at Wimbledon for 16 straight years, but lost in the first round last year. She won the singles trophy in 2000-01, 2005 and 2007-08.

Williams has struggled with a back issues for a while, and had played in just three matches in the last two-plus months. She was hobbled a during a three-set, three-hour loss to 40th-ranked Urszula Radwanska of Poland in the first round of last month’s French Open. She also cited her back when she and younger sister Serena withdrew from the doubles competition.

Once ranked No. 1, the older Williams has slipped to No. 34. She’s also still coping with performing as a professional athlete with an energy-affecting autoimmune disease, Sjogren’s syndrome. Venus has two first-round losses in her previous four Grand Slam tournaments.