Serena Williams to play in Parma following early Rome exit

23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams will play in the Emilia-Romagna Open next week following her early exit in Rome, coach Patrick Mouratoglou has confirmed.

The legendary American was beaten 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 by the Argentine Nadia Podoroska in the 1,000th match of her incredible career at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday.

Williams, who was given a bye into the second round at Foro Italico, was playing her first match since losing to Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals of the Australian Open three months ago.

Venus & Serena Williams will both play in Parma

With Roland-Garros getting under way on May 30, Williams has taken a wildcard to get some more matches under her belt as she continues her chase for equaling Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.

Breaking 🚨@serenawilliams e @Venuseswilliams giocheranno l’#EmiliaRomagnaOpen: le due leggende statunitensi hanno ricevuto una wild card a testa per il #WTAParma @RegioneER | @ERTourism | @WTA | @SuperTennisTv | @usta | @Barilla pic.twitter.com/eGAiChkBK2

— MEF tennis events (@meftennisevents) May 12, 2021

Venus Williams, who withdrew from the Italian Open prior to the tournament getting underway, has also taken a wild card into the Parma event.

Other players entered the tournament include Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens, and Petra Martic.

Want to get as many matches under our belt as possible before Roland-Garros – Serena’s coach Mouratoglou

Mouratoglou, the coach of the former world No 1, confirmed the news on his social media account.

Change of plans: Serena hasn’t been competing for a while, and we want to get as many matches under our belt as possible before Roland-Garros – so we’re adding the Emilia-Romagna Open to our schedule.

We’ll be back in action next week

𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒕. pic.twitter.com/RlsWxvrxBx

— Patrick Mouratoglou (@pmouratoglou) May 13, 2021