"If she was in that much pain, they could have brought her in on a stretcher" - Greg Rusedski critical of Serena Williams skipping media duties

Serena Williams' decision to skip her press conference has gone unpunished by Wimbledon and has led to a number of critics getting on the American. One of which includes former British number one Greg Rusedski who could not see why this physical concern was a reason to skip speaking to the media.

A lot of attention has been centred around Williams since her return to tennis at the start of the grass swing. Originally playing doubles, she was handed the chance to make a singles return at Wimbledon via a wildcard.

She jumped at the opportunity, unveiling a lot of excited tennis fans who were ready to see what the 23-time Grand Slam champion was still capable of on court. From her prior matches, there was an element of rust that was being shaken off, and the movement seemed like an issue, but the power was still very much there which made her a very dangerous player to compete with.

She was drawn against Maya Joint who was not playing her best tennis of her career currently. The Aussie was pushed hard by Williams but eventually prevailed on Centre Court in a remarkably tight 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 contest.

Joint missed a brace of match points in the second set and even fell a break down in the third but was able to come through on top after a hard fought battle with her experienced opponent.

While it may not have looked like it, Williams played through much of the match with a knee injury. Tweaking it in the first set, this hampered her progress and since left her as a doubt for the doubles. Wimbledon have since pushed back her and Venus Williams contest against Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio until Saturday with the match still waiting to be scheduled in this moment in time.

This knee concern did leave to Williams opting not to partake in media duties, looking to get treatment as soon as possible. A lot of tennis fans have gazed upon this with a bemused glance with some surprised that she was not fined.

Rusedski was one of them. "I imagine the rules regarding injuries have evolved to avoid fines," he said in his Off Court podcast. "In my day, I don't think we had that luxury, unless you were taken off on a stretcher or had a serious incident, like what happened to Alexander Zverev against Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.

"It was a knee injury. She explained it happened after the first set. There are doubts about her participation in doubles with her sister Venus Williams. Nevertheless, I think she should have come to the press conference."

He was not in denial that Williams deserved that wildcard but felt that the injury was not serious enough for her to skip the press conference, or at least that is how it looked. "There's no doubt she deserved a wildcard. You can't deny access to one of the greatest legends of this sport when she wants to play singles, but it's a shame she didn't hold a press conference after her defeat. If she was in that much pain, they could have brought her in on a stretcher and put ice on her knee."

Overall, the Brit was just kind of annoyed that he and many other tennis fans never got the chance to hear from Williams and what her raw emotions were following that defeat. "I would have liked her to do it, but the rules allow players to skip the press conference in case of injury," he commented.

"Maybe she was too upset to say anything, but the truth is I would have liked to hear from Serena. It's not like she's playing the tour every week. We have a former champion and one of the greatest players, if not the greatest tennis player of all time, making her return, and yet she doesn't speak to the press. Personally, I'm a bit disappointed not to have heard from Serena after a defeat that must have been hard to swallow."