Serena’s 24th Grand Slam title quest ends abruptly
PARIS — Serena Williams laughed at her own jokes and sounded an upbeat tone — or one as positive, at least, as could be expected from a player whose latest bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title ended because of injury — as did her season, probably.
Williams tried to warm up for her second-round match at Roland Garros on Wednesday, but huddled afterward with her coach and determined that if walking on the Achilles tendon she hurt at the U.S. Open nearly three weeks ago was difficult, then trying to run and compete made little sense.
“If it was my knee, that would be more really devastating for me. But this is something that just happened, and it's super acute. That's totally different. I feel like my body is actually doing really, really well,” said Williams, who turned 39 on Saturday. “I just ran into, for lack of a better word, bad timing and bad luck, really, in NewYork.”
Williamswithdrewabout an hour before she would have played Tsvetana Pironkova at Court Philippe Chatrier, her earliest exit from a major tournament in six years and the most significant development in Paris on Day 4, which also included a straight-set loss by U.S. Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka and straightforward wins for Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem over a couple of American men.
Williams' departure, and the 10th-seeded Azarenka's
6-2, 6-2 dismissal by 161stranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova — someone who lost 13 consecutive Grand Slam matches until defeating Williams' older sister, Venus, earlier this week — meant zero of the four female semifinalists at Flushing Meadows made it past the second round at Roland Garros.
Champion Naomi Osaka didn't make the trip to France at all; No. 21 seed Jennifer Brady was upset in her opening match by a 17year-old qualifier.
The French Open's start was postponed to September from May because of the coronavirus pandemic, and there were plenty of questions beforehand about what effects there would be from hard courts to red clay.
It was in the third set of Williams' semifinal against Azarenka at Flushing Meadows that Williams stretched her left Achilles while chasing a shot. Williams took a long pause, clutched at that leg and then took a medical timeout so a trainer could wrap it.
“Didn't have enough time to properly heal after the
Open. I was able to get it somewhat better, but just looking long-term in this tournament, will I be able to get through enough matches? And so, for me, I don't think I could,” Williams said Wednesday. “I'm struggling to walk, so that's kind of a telltale sign that I should try to recover.”
She played with a vertical strip of black athletic tape along her Achilles during her first-round match Monday, but there were no obvious signs of trouble during the 7-6 (2), 6-0 victory over Kristie Ahn.
“I felt like I needed to, like walk with a limp,” Williams said, “and that was no good.” Williams said she needs a month or more now of “sitting and doing nothing” because of the Achilles, meaning her 2020 is “more than likely” done.
If anyone was wondering whether Williams is thinking about moving on after more than two decades as a transcendent figure in her sport, she offered an encouraging message.
“I love playing tennis, obviously. I love competing. AndIlovebeingouthere.It's myjob;beenmyjob.AndI'm pretty good at it still,” Williams said.
Meanwhile, American teenager Coco Gauff's FrenchOpendebutendedin the second round after she double-faulted 19 times in a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 loss to 159thranked qualifier Martina Trevisan.
Nadal reached the third round by beating American Mackenzie McDonald 6-1, 6-0, 6-3.
American qualifier Sebastian Korda took out 21st-seeded John Isner in the second round with a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win.