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Picture Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Tennis star Serena Williams has confirmed that she will not go to Tokyo Olympics, which is set to begin on July 23. The World No.8 during an interview revealed that she is not on the Olympics list and if she is, she shouldn't be.

“I’m actually not on the Olympic list. If I am, I shouldn’t be on it," said the 39-year-old in an interview. Notably, Serena is not the first player to pull out of Olympics. Earlier this month, Spain's Rafael Nadal also had announced that he will miss the Olympics as he bids to prolong his career.

Denis Shapovalov of Canada also withdrew his name from Tokyo Olympics citing "safety reasons" due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Serena had earlier hinted she might skip the event

Notably, Serena Williams in May had hinted that she might give the Tokyo Olympics a miss to spend more time with her 3-year-old daughter.

“I haven’t spent 24 hours without her, so that kind of answers the question itself,” Williams had said at the Italian Open in May.

“I haven’t really thought much about Tokyo, because it was supposed to be last year and now it’s this year, and then there is this pandemic and there is so much to think about,” she had told.

Serena is currently participating in Wimbledon and aiming for her 24th Grand Slam.