Serena Williams out of Australian Open

Defending champ Serena Williams has pulled her name from next year’s Australian Open tennis tournament following a second surgery on her injured foot.

Williams, who’s won five of her 13 Grand Slam singles titles at Melbourne Park, informed organizers of the season- opening major of her decision to pull out today.

Williams, 29, hasn’t played competitively since she successfully defended her Wimbledon title in July. The American said she cut her foot on a shard of glass in Germany following that victory and had surgery later that month. She said today that she had a second operation last month.

In October, Williams said she wouldn’t be playing for the rest of 2010 after re-tearing a tendon in her right foot. She finished the year ranked fourth, as Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark took over the top spot.