Injured Serena scheduled to play in U.S. Open
Serena Williams of USA celebrates a point during the Ladies Singles Final Match against Vera Zvonareva of Russia on Day Twelve of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. (July 3, 2010) Credit: Getty Images
Yesterday's announcement of the women's field in this year's U.S. Open highlighted the entry of top-ranked Serena Williams just one day after WTA officials said that Williams' participation in the year's final Grand Slam event is questionable because of a foot injury that required surgery.
According to Williams' spokespersons, she cut her right foot on broken glass at a restaurant shortly after winning Wimbledon in early July and has withdrawn from tournament commitments in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal leading up to the Open, as well as planned play in World Team Tennis this month. (One of her WTT matches was to have been on Randalls Island on July 15.)
Williams played in a Brussels exhibition against reigning U.S. champion Kim Clijsters, reportedly for a $1-million fee, shortly after injuring her foot. The following evening, appearing at a WTT match in Glens Falls, N.Y., she told reporters "those Belgian doctors and waffles" had gotten her through the exhibition, but subsequently abandoned the rest of her summer schedule.
The Open begins its two-week run Aug. 30, and should Williams play, it will be her first action in New York since she was defaulted in last year's Open semifinal against Clijsters for threatening a line judge and eventually was fined a record $82,500. Only one player among the top 100 women, two-time Open champion Justine Henin, is missing from the Open entry list because of an elbow injury.
