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WUHAN. — World number one Serena Williams withdrew from the Wuhan Open tennis tournament in China yesterday after falling ill midway through the first set of her second round match against Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.The American top seed was leading 6-5 after breaking Cornet’s serve with a smash only for the doctor to come on court at the change over and take the 32-year-old’s temperature.

Williams, who was playing in her first match since winning her 18th grand slam singles title at the US Open earlier this month, sat solemnly, head down with a towel around her neck and a thermometer in her mouth before opting against continuing.

Williams had showed flashes of her usual brilliance, but did not look at full fitness throughout her hour of activity on the centre court.

Her exit only added to the headache for organisers of the inaugural US$2,4 million hard court event, where top names tumbled in early action after the city’s tennis trailblazer Li Na announced her retirement from the game last week. — SuperTennis.