New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Vandeweghe withdraws with ankle injury
NEW HAVEN — Unfortunately, athletes are not machines. They are not indestructible robots.
That is especially true for professional women tennis players.
CoCo Vandeweghe had a marvelous WTA campaign in 2017. On the strength of a 35-17 singles record, the 26-year-old American climbed from No. 37 in the world rankings in 2015 and 2016 to No. 10 in 2017.
However, the 6-foot-1 Vandeweghe has paid a price for her success in
2018.
She is 10-12 in singles this year as she has fallen to No. 24 in the latest rankings.
Injury has been at the root of Vandeweghe’s woes. Bad luck continued to find her Sunday.
Her ailing right ankle betrayed her once more as she battled Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in the third set of their first round, main draw singles match at the Connecticut Open.
The fans at the Connecticut Tennis Center saw Vandeweghe forced to retire due to injury while leading 3-2 in the third set after a battle of 2 hours, 15 minutes.
An earlier third set trainer timeout to work on the ankle along with the long break before the third set wasn’t enough to stop Rybarikova from walking away with a 2-6, 6-4, 2-3, 40-15 triumph.
“It was similar to how I did it at Wimbledon. I jammed the ankle forward,” Vandeweghe said. “This is a setback.”
With Vandeweghe out, Danielle Collins is the lone American left in the draw.
Vandeweghe, who received a wild card into the Connecticut Open, originally injured the ankle in early July at Wimbledon while suffering a first round loss to Katerina Siniakova.
She kept playing to the finish that day. She knew it wasn’t smart to do that again even though possible victory in New Haven was within reach.
“I tried to put no stress on it for six weeks. I’ve only played three or four days of tennis since Wimbledon,” Vandeweghe said. “I love the atmosphere playing at tournaments like New Haven that are near colleges. I’m hoping it’s still possible for me to play at (next week’s) U.S. Open.”
The bright spot of 2018 for Vandeweghe was her loss in the final in late April in Stuttgart, Germany to Karolina Pliskova.
Looking back, Vandeweghe feels her lengthy schedule in 2017 set the stage for her injury in 2018.
“In 2017, I played from January 1 to November. There were just three weeks off and the 2018 campaign began,” Vandeweghe said. “I was insanely fatigued. I started the year sick. I was fatigued going into Miami and Indian Wells. Playing the Federation Cup schedule cuts into down time as well. I was decent in clay court season. I got injured during grass court season. I feel I’m getting hit from all over.”
Now Vandeweghe’s spot at the U.S. Open is in jeopardy. She was part of the All-American Open semifinals (Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Venus Williams, Vandeweghe) in 2017.
“I’ve learned it’s a mental battle dealing with this ankle. I’m trying to keep a positive outlook for the Open,” said Vandeweghe, whose biggest motion issue is going forward (for drop shots) and back (for lobs) quickly. “I played on one leg at Wimbledon for more than two hours. I wasn’t going to do that again.”