Serena Williams has withdrawn from the French Open due to an achilles injury.

The 39-year-old American, who is chasing a record-equalling 24th grand slam title, was scheduled to face Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova on Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday.

Williams, the sixth seed, came into the Roland Garros tournament nursing an achilles injury she suffered during her semi-final defeat at the US Open earlier this month.

“After I warmed up – it was a very short warm-up – I talked to my coach and I was like, ‘What do you think?’ We both thought about it and we really realised that it likely wasn’t the best for me to play today,” Williams said.

“I love playing in Paris, I really wanted to give an effort here.

“My achilles didn’t have time to properly heal. I’m struggling to walk so that’s kind of a tell-tale sign that I should try to recover.”

Williams estimated she needs four to six weeks to recover, which is likely to mean the end of her season.

She was sluggish during the first set of her first-round victory over Kristie Ahn but won the second set to love and there was no indication afterwards that she was considering her future in the tournament.

Pironkova, who gave Williams a tough time in the quarter-finals in New York, will face Barbora Strycova or Barbora Krejcikova in the third round.