Superstar American tennis player Serena Williams has withdrawn from next week’s Italian Open in Rome.

It is the second successive event the former world No.1 has pulled out of having also decided not to play in Madrid this week.

The decision puts in doubt her participation at the French Open, which begins on May 27.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion has not played a match on clay since reaching the final at Roland Garros in 2016.

She returned to the WTA Tour in March, six months after giving birth to baby Olympia, and reached the third round at Indian Wells, where she was beaten by sister Venus, before falling in the first round of the Miami Open to Japan’s Naomi Osaka.

A statement on the tournament’s Twitter feed read: “We are so sad to announce that Serena Williams, a four-time Champion in Rome, has withdrawn from £ibi18. Obviously we can’t wait to see her again on Foro Italico’s red clay, perhaps in 2019?”