Serena Williams to Play at Standford's Bank of West Classic on July 30, Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova Withdraws

Serena Williams will grace the Stanford's Bank of the West Classic on July 30, after she attracted worldwide headlines by her recent Wimbledon doubles match exit.

The tournament officials announced on Wednesday that the tennis superstar will return to action. However, albeit remaining unchallenged as the world no. 1 by winning titles in Miami, Brisbane and Rome, this season has been dubbed disappointing for the 17-time Grand Slam champion because of her underperformance at the biggest events. Williams failed to reach a single quarterfinal in the three Grand Slams so far in 2014.

Williams was ousted in the Wimbledon third round by Alize Cornet when she retired from a doubles match with her sister Venus Williams. The world no. 1 was clearly unwell at Wimbledon as she was barely able to hit the ball. According to the Williams camp, the champion's withdrawal was due to a viral illness but it appears that she has fully recovered after posting snaps of her frolicking on Instagram during her vacation in Croatia.

On the other hand, the former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from the Stanford's Bank of the West Classic tournament due to a hamstring injury.

"I was really looking forward to making my debut at the Bank of the West Classic because I have heard such great things about the tournament," Kvitova said via Mercury News.

"But unfortunately the hamstring injury I had through Wimbledon needs a little more time to recover. I will continue to work hard to be back in shape for the rest of the U.S. Open Series," the former Wimbledon champion added, hoping some days off would help hasten her recovery.

Williams won the back-to-back titles of Bank of the West in 2011 and 2012 and a strong U.S. Open Series is necessary for the champion to rescue her season.