"I didn't take drugs, I wasn't pregnant" - When Serena Williams retired from Wimbledon doubles fixture after a series of double faults
The 2014 Wimbledon Championships was a tournament to forget for Serena Williams, as she endured early exits at both the singles and doubles events. The American's stay in the women's singles competition came to an end after she was stunned 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Alize Cornet in the third round. She competed in the women's doubles event with her sister Venus Williams as the eighth seed.
The pair reached the second round and were up against the Swiss-German duo of Stefanie Voegele and Kristina Barrois. During the match, Serena Williams served eight consecutive double faults as her opponents took a 3-0 lead.
The match then came to an end as the American retired, thus giving Voegele and Barrois a ticket to the quarterfinals. Serena Williams was far from her best during the match, and the reason was due to a viral illness.
The American said in an interview later in 2014 that she did not take any drugs nor was she pregnant, as some rumors stated.
“I have nothing to hide. No, I didn’t take anything. If you want to ask me if I took drugs, I didn’t take drugs. I’m not on drugs. I’ve heard it all. I’m not pregnant; I wasn’t pregnant. Although I think a baby would be great, but there’s a time and place for everything. But no, I don’t do drugs. Never did ’em. I’m scared of ’em. I’m not on that stuff," Williams said.
Both the Williams sisters exited the singles event at Wimbledon 2014 in the first round, with Venus Williams losing 5-7, 7-6(2), 7-5 to then-sixth seed and eventual champion Petra Kvitova.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams won six women's doubles titles at Wimbledon
Serena and Venus won six women's doubles titles at Wimbledon, the first of which came in 2000 when they beat the French-Japanese duo of Julie Halard-Decugis and Ai Sugiyama.
Their second triumph came in 2002 when they were seeded third, beating Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez. The Williams sisters' next two victories at Wimbledon came in 2008 and 2009, and in both years, they did not drop a single set.
They triumphed in 2012 before lifting the women's doubles winners' trophy for one last time in 2016, which also turned out to be their final appearance in the discipline. Serena Williams also won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1998 with Max Mirnyi as her partner.