What’s next for Serena after injury?
After an extended maternity leave, new mom Serena Williams is experiencing the one step forward, two steps back aspect to mounting a comeback.
At the French Open on Monday, the 36-year-old was abruptly forced to unlace her sneakers because of a chest muscle injury that prevented her from stepping on court. Ranked 451st in the world, Williams was on tap to renew her rivalry with Maria Sharapova for the first time since their 2016 Australian Open quarterfinal.
Instead of showing up for that fourth-round outing with the hopes of improving her 19-2 record against the Russian, Williams arrived at a news conference to explain that a painful pectoral muscle strain would prevent her from continuing her French Open quest this year.
“It’s very difficult because I love playing Maria,” Williams told the media in Paris. “It’s just a match I always get up for. It’s just her game matches so well against mine.”
Williams won’t win her 24th Grand Slam title, which would tie Margaret Court’s record for most Grand Slam singles titles won, at the French Open this weekend.
But with proper treatment, and barring any further issue, the injury should likely heal in time for Wimbledon, which begins July 2.
Bill Norris, who is known as a pioneer in sports physiotherapy and worked at the ATP for 35 years before setting up a private practice in Boca Raton, Florida, offered encouragement that Williams could recover quickly.
“It’s a common injury and sometimes in an awkward moment an athlete will stretch out too fast and that’s how you get those strains,” said Norris, who authored the book Pain, Set and Match about his years with the ATP and as a guide to common tennis injuries. “With Serena’s work ethic, she works very hard, I can’t see that this will be a big problem. But not knowing the situation, and not being there and testing the muscle where she is feeling pain, I don’t really know for sure.
“The fact is that she’s being smart about it. Taking some time off in getting ready for Wimbledon is probably a wise decision,” Norris added.
Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams’ coach, said that not playing against Sharapova was imperative if Williams wanted to bolster her chances of being ready for Wimbledon.
“I feel there’s no way she can play (today),” Mouratoglou said. “But I also feel an extra match would’ve really made it worse and then put her in danger for Wimbledon. I feel like she stopped at exactly the right point.”
The disappointment of having to withdraw was magnified because the French Open was an integral element to her comeback from maternity leave — daughter Alexis Olympia was born last September. It was also her first major since she won her 23rd Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open, where she played being eight weeks pregnant.
This year, Williams only played four official matches for a 2-2 record prior to arriving at the French Open. The good and bad news was she was showing excellent form in winning her first three matches in Paris prior to the injury. She said she started to feel the problem, which prevented her from serving effectively, during her thirdround win over 11th-seeded Julia Goerges.