Serena Williams Canadian Open update: Singles, doubles or both?
Serena Williams has an open invite to compete at this year’s Canadian Open, but it remains to be seen if the tennis great will take up the offer to play in Toronto.
Having made her return to professional tennis in the doubles alongside Victoria Mboko at the Queen’s Club Championships, the former world No 1 then made her singles comeback at Wimbledon.
Her first singles match in nearly four years ended with a double blow as she not only lost 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6 against Maya Joint, but also suffered a knee injury that ended her doubles campaign alongside sister Venus Williams before it even started.
In a post on Instagram, the 44-year-old shared the devastating news: “I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles.
“Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside @venuswilliams once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately my knee just isn’t ready to compete.”
As for the injury, Williams added: “The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match… yikes! The good news is my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I just wasn’t able to get it ready for doubles.”
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Although US Open organisers are yet to confirm her participation, it is widely believed she will receive a wildcard for her home Grand Slam and her coach Rennae Stubbs wants her to play at least one tournament before the season-ending major at Flushing Meadows.
“She does not wish to relive what happened here, to arrive on a Grand Slam by not having contested any single before,” Stubbs stated.
There are two big events before the US Open, namely the Canadian Open – which starts on 3 August – and the Cincinnati Open, which gets underway on 13 August.
There are still two wildcards available for the Canadian Open and Valerie Tetreault, the vice-president of communications at Tennis Canada, made it clear that Williams has been offered one of those.
“We are still in discussions with her team. We’re monitoring her recovery from her injury on a day-to-day basis,” she told L’Equipe. “For the time being, no final decision has been made.”
Will she play singles, doubles or both?
“Nothing has been finalised. So, for the time being, we’re keeping all options on the table,” Tetreault added.
