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TENNIS

Serena Williams pulls out of Swedish Open

World number one and six-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams has spoken about how an elbow injury forced her to pull out of the Swedish Open in Båstad at the last minute.

Published: 17 July 2015 07:54 CEST
Serena Williams pulls out of Swedish Open
Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka hug following their Wimbledon quarter-final match. Photo: Bob Martin/AELTC

The 33-year-old tennis star had been set to play Klara Koukalova in the second round at Båstad in southern Sweden, having defeated Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium 6-2, 6-1 in her opener on Wednesday at the claycout event she won in 2013.

“I was having some pain in my right elbow,” Williams said.

“I felt a little bit in my match [on Wednesday] and then it got better, but [on Thursday] morning I really couldn't hit serves, and if I'm not able to hit serves that could definitely be a problem.”

“So I talked to my coach about it and we were like, 'Let's see what the doctor says, and see what everyone else says, and go from there'. The main thing is that we don't want it to get worse, we obviously want it to heal.”

“Unfortunately I haven't had time to heal. I've been going, going, going, playing tournaments I love, and coming here has been such a great joy, but unfortunately it's not going to heal if I keep playing.”

The coastal town of Båstad is best known for the tennis tournament, held each summer since 1948. The city has has the most tennis courts in the country and has fostered many internationally successful tennis players.

The town attracts some 20,000 visitors during this time, including Sweden's newest royal couple, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia, who married in a lavish ceremony last month. The pair first laid eyes on each other on a night out in Båstad back in the summer of 2009.

And Williams did seem to enjoy her brief spell in the town, even posting a picture of herself enjoying the Swedish summer on the beach on social media.

 

Beach day in Sweden #SerenaSlam #renasarmy

A photo posted by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Jul 14, 2015 at 7:00am PDT

Williams swept to a sixth Wimbledon title on Saturday, her 21st career major and her third in three Grand Slam events this year.

If she defends her US Open crown in September, she will become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to complete a calendar Grand Slam.

“I'm going to take some time off, I'm going to get some treatment, and I'm going to continue to do things for it. I'll do what's best for my body and continue from there,” Wiliams told www.wtatour.com.

Elsewhere in Båstad on Thursday there were wins for third seed Barbora Strycova who beat Evgeniya Rodina, 6-4, 6-1; Sweden's Rebecca Peterson seeing off sixth seeded Katerina Siniakova, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6), and Yulia Putintseva defeating French qualifier Alize Lim, 6-0, 1-6, 6-2.

The last match of the day saw seventh seed Johanna Larsson edging Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6-3, 7-5.

ROGER FEDERER

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Roger Federer is talking optimistically about returning to his "highest level" after knee surgery, but does tennis have to start adjusting to a future without the Swiss star?

Published: 11 June 2020 16:22 CEST
Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?
Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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