WORLD NO. 1 BLAMES SHOULDER INJURY FOR WITHDRAWAL
erena Williams announced yesterday that she has pulled out of two forthcoming tournaments in China citing an ongoing shoulder injury.
“I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open or the China Open due to continuing issues with my right shoulder,” Williams said in a statement.
“I have been practising and playing but my shoulder is still not fit for tournament play,” she added.
Williams has not been seen on court since the US Open earlier this month, where she was knocked out by Czech Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals and lost her long-held position as world number one to eventual champion Angelique Kerber.
The 22 time Grand Slam champion has won only one Slam this year — defending her title at Wimbledon.
A shoulder injury then forced her to withdraw from tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati, and the same problem appeared to hamper her in Rio, where her hopes of a fifth Olympic gold medal were crushed in the third round by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
But it was a sore left knee that she mentioned as a reason for her ousting at Flushing Meadows — the second consecutive year the six time US Open champion had been knocked out in the semis.
Williams’ chances of reclaiming the world number one spot — which she held for 186 consecutive weeks, 309 weeks in total — before the end of the season have now significantly diminished.
Meanwhile, Kerber — who is due to play both Wuhan and in Beijing — looks set to cap a glittering year at the top of the rankings.
The German, 28, reached her first Grand Slam final in Australia at the beginning of the year — and won it.
She also made it to the final at Wimbledon, before taking her second Grand Slam crown — and the top world ranking — at the US Open.
Season in doubt
The rest of the veteran American’s season was already in doubt when she left Flushing Meadows.
She said then that left knee problems had affected her game — as much mentally as physically — and she wasn’t sure about her schedule for the rest of the year.
In 2015, the emotional anguish of a semi-final exit — which denied her a rare calendar-year Grand Slam — also saw her cut short her season after the US Open.
This year, Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou acknowledged that a season with just two titles — even if one was Wimbledon — wasn’t up to her standards.
“This year was not good enough. Only one Slam. For Serena it’s not good enough, for sure,” he said.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka produced another explosive performance to beat Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich and reach the $885,500 Pan Pacific Open semi-finals yesterday.
Osaka, born of a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, will face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the last four after her shock three-set victory over top seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain.
The 18-year-old Osaka, who models her power game on her idol Serena Williams, reached the last four of a WTA tournament for the first time after a 6-3, 7-6 victory in Tokyo, finishing in style by smashing an ace down the centre line.
Osaka erased a 5-0 deficit in the second set to force a tiebreak she won 8-6 to advance, but Svitlona will be a threat after bundling out French Open champion Muguruza 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
On the other side of the draw, second seed Agnieszka Radwanska booked her place in the semi-finals as the Pole overpowered Puerto Rico’s Rio Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig 6-2, 6-3.
She next plays former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, winner in Tokyo six years ago, after the Dane beat Poland’s Magda Linette 6-4, 6-3.
In Beijing, Defending champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia beat Croatian teen sensation Ana Konjuh in the semi-finals of the WTA $226,750 Guangzhou International Women’s Open on Thursday.
Second seed Jankovic, who is yet to drop a set in China, is now just one win away from defending her title and claiming the $226,750 top prize.
She followed up her straightsets victory over Sabine Lisicki on Thursday with a hardfought triumph over US Open quarterfinalist Konjuh.
Former world number one Jankovic beat Konjuh, 7-5, 7-6(7) to advance to the final, pulling off a brilliant comeback to avoid a decider, reeling in Konjuh’s 4-1 lead to force a tiebreak, then thwarting two break points before completing the win.
She will face Lesia Tsurenko after the Ukrainian player surged past Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 6-2.
Meanwhile, Romanian Monica Niculescu advanced to the $226,750 Korea Open semifinal along with compatriot Patricia Maria Tig, raising a prospect of all-Romanian final.
The 28-year-old Niculescu, currently the world number 55, defeated Jana Cepelova from Slovakia 6-4, 6-2 in 81 minutes while Tig, ranked 135 in the world, beat Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-3 in a 154-minute showdown.
Niculescu will next play third seed Zhang Shuai who yesterday beat Italy’s Camila Giorgi, and Tig will match against Lara Arruabarrena of Spain.
Tomas Berdych reached the semi-finals of the $923,550 St Petersburg Open Men’s Singles defeating Paolo Lorenzi of Italy 6-4, 6-3. In other matches Germany’s Alexander Zverev beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-2 6-2 while Spaniard Roberto Bautista defeated Joao Sousa (Portugal) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.