Serena Williams (center) is pictured on her way to attend a wedding in New York on July 10. |
Serena Williams is in doubt for the US Open because of her recent foot injury, according to the WTA Tour.
Serena cut her right foot on a broken glass at a restaurant shortly after winning the Wimbledon. The tour said last week she needed surgery and would miss three tournaments leading up to the Open.
On Monday, tour spokesman Andrew Walker said Serena is questionable for the final Grand Slam of the year. Serena's return to the Open has been widely anticipated because of her tumultuous semifinal loss there last year, when she threw a tirade at a line judge at the end of a match against Kim Clijsters and was fined a record US$82,500.
Because of the injury, Serena is missing the entire World Team Tennis season with the Washington Kastles. Her team said she cut the bottom of her foot and needed stitches.
"Hey guys I'm doing better," Serena tweeted on Monday. "Thanks for all the love."
On Sunday night she tweeted: "can't wait to get out of bed & back on the courts & do what i do best!"
Ranked No. 1, Serena won her fourth Wimbledon crown and 13th major title on July 3. The injury occurred shortly after in Europe and at first was not believed to be serious.
After hurting her foot, Serena played in an exhibition in Brussels on July 8 against Clijsters before a world-record tennis crowd of 35,681.
Waffles
Serena attended a WTT match the next night in Glen Falls, New York, and did not play but briefly discussed her injury with reporters. When asked how she was able to play against Clijsters, Serena said, "Those Belgian doctors and waffles."
Clijsters said she knew before the exhibition that Serena was hurt pretty seriously.
"I saw her before we started but she didn't go into how it happened," Clijsters said.
"I told her how much I admired her for coming out there. A lot of players in her situation wouldn't have done it."
Serena subsequently withdrew from upcoming tournaments in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal. The last of those, at Montreal, begins on August 16, and the US Open starts on August 30.
"You want the best players to be out there, especially at the US Open," Clijsters said. "It would be sad not to have Serena there."
After winning the Australian Open at the end of January, Serena was sidelined through April because of an injured left knee.
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