Venus Williams has withdrawn her name from the Sony Open. Venus had to play against her countrywoman Sloane Stephens in the third round match, but, because of an injury in her lower back, the 32 years old American player decided not to participate in the match.

Venus had defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan in the second round of this tournament. She had to battle hard for that victory though. She had won the match by 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-4.

On Saturday, Venus announced that she was struggling with back pain and she wouldn’t take part in the third round match.

Talking to the reporters, Venus said, “Yesterday, I had a bit of pain in my back, but, it was not that bad. But, today, it worsened. During the warm up, I couldn’t move fluently. There was no point going into the match in that condition. So, I decided to withdraw.”

“It doesn’t feel good at all. This is a big event and you want to perform well in such kind of events.”

Venus has won Sony Open three times in her career and she was eyeing for her fourth title at Miami.

Venus said that she is expecting to get fit before the Family Circle Cup that will be played in April at Charleston, South Carolina.

Venus said, “I don’t think it will take me too many days to get rid of this injury. I am hoping to be alright for the Family Circle Cup.”

Sloane Stephens got a walkover in the third round because of Venus’ withdrawal. In the next round, Stephens will face the Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska who reached the fourth round by beating Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in a tight match.

Radwanska was the winner of Sony Open last year.