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Serena Williams during a press conference.

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the French Open shortly before she was due on Philippe Chatrier Court to face Maria Sharapova in a much-anticipated fourth round showdown.

The 36-year-old 23-time grand slam champion, playing in her first slam since the 2017 Australian Open after maternity leave, told a news conference in Paris she had a pectoral muscle injury.

“Unfortunately I’m having some issues with my pec muscle. Right now I can’t actually serve so it’s kind of hard to play,” she said.

Williams also revealed that she will have an MRI scan today and was non-committal on her Wimbledon prospects.

“It’s very difficult,” Williams added. “I love playing Maria. I’ve made every sacrifice I could. I made a commitment to myself and my team that if I wasn’t at least 60 percent I wouldn’t play. I’ve never felt this in my life. It’s so painful.

“I’m beyond disappointed. I gave up so much from time with my daughter and time with my family all for this moment. So it’s really difficult to be in this situation.”

Williams played in the women’s doubles with sister Venus yesterday.

“I thought [doubles] was a perfect opportunity to see how I was going. I tried a lot of different tapings and support. It didn’t get a lot better.”

Sharapova will now play either Garbiñe Muguruza or Lesia Tsurenko in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal continued his birthday celebrations by moving into the French Open quarterfinals yesterday, beating a determined Maximilian Marterer 6-3 6-2 7-6(4).

Nadal, who turned 32 on Sunday, fired 39 winners as he completed the victory in two hours and 30 minutes to set up a match with Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who had earlier beaten Kevin Anderson.

After roaring to a two-set lead, Nadal faced a stern test in the third with Marterer leading 3-1 at one point after breaking the Spaniard. The German battled for every point in a bid to drag himself back into the contest.

Nadal, however, maintained composure in the decisive moments of the match to seal victory on his second match point as Marterer’s backhand went long. — The Guardian/ Reuters