(CNN) -- Serena Williams has been forced to delay her comeback to tennis after pulling out of the WTA tournament in Linz in Austria at the last minute.
The American superstar has been sidelined with a foot injury she picked up in July after standing on broken glass in a Munich restaurant.
Her last tournament came at Wimbledon where she claimed her fourth singles title and second grand slam crown of the season.
The 29-year-old was set to return at the low-key event, not least because it offered the same playing surface as at the prestigious end of season WTA Tour finals in Doha, Qatar next month.
Williams originally confirmed her participation at the $220,000 tournament, but organizers announced on Sunday that she had pulled out.
According to the official tournament website, Williams felt a pain in her right foot while practicing in Miami on Saturday and had decided not to risk the injury.
It is a big blow to the organizers, but they replaced her in the draw with former world number one Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.
Williams will lose her number one spot in the world rankings to Dane Caroline Wozniacki when the new list is confirmed on Monday.
CNN
