Serena Williams was attempting ‘the impossible’ before French Open injury withdrawal

That is the opinion of former British No 1 and tennis commentator Sam Smith.

Williams announced this afternoon she had withdrawn from the French Open due to injury.

The American was set to play old rival Maria Sharapova in the last 16 but a pec injury has forced her to pull out.

Williams gave birth to her first child Alexis Olympia last September and Smith believes it was too early for her to expect her body to be up to the challenge of winning a Grand Slam.

“Serena has still been pretty much full on with the child, Alexis Olympia, until about three weeks ago,” Smith said of Serena Williams on ITV 4.

“So she’s almost asking herself to do the impossible, almost her body is a different body from before and after birth.

“I don’t know if you ever saw the documentary with Jessica Ennis-Hill, our great Olympic gold medallist heptathlete, and her coach Toni Minichiello was saying that her times in training before she gave birth and after, it was like two different athletes.

“So it’s not surprising, maybe if you think about it rationally, that Serena has picked up a new injury because maybe the body hasn’t hardened after child birth, I’m not an expert totally.

“But also don’t forget, Serena is 36 going on 37, she has played a lot of tennis, she’s hit a lot of serves.

“It might not be the fact that she’s a new mum, it might be that there’s some wear and tear which I think is all completely understandable.”