PARIS ā Serena Williams laughed at her own jokes and sounded an upbeat tone ā or one as positive, at least, as could be expected from a player whose latest bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title ended because of injury, as did her season, probably.
Williams tried to warm up for her second-round match at Roland Garros on Wednesday but huddled afterward with her coach and determined that if walking on the Achilles tendon she hurt at the U.S. Open nearly three weeks ago was difficult, then trying to run and compete made little sense.
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āIf it was my knee, that would be more really devastating for me. But this is something that just happened, and itās super acute. Thatās totally different. I feel like my body is actually doing really, really well,ā said Williams, who turned 39 on Saturday. āI just ran into, for lack of a better word, bad timing and bad luck, really, in New York.ā
Williams withdrew about an hour before she would have played Tsvetana Pironkova at Court Philippe Chatrier, her earliest exit from a major tournament in six years and the most significant development in Paris on Day 4, which also included a straight-set loss by U.S. Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka and straightforward wins for Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem over a couple of American men.
āThatās disappointing on many levels, of course,ā said John Isner, the 21st-seeded man who was beaten in four sets by 20-year-old American qualifier Sebastian Korda. āItās disappointing personally for Serena, but itās disappointing for the tournament and for tennis fans worldwide.ā
Williamsā departure, and the 10th-seeded Azarenkaās 6-2, 6-2 dismissal by 161st-ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova ā someone who lost 13 consecutive Grand Slam matches until defeating Williams' older sister, Venus, earlier this week ā meant zero of the four female semifinalists at Flushing Meadows made it past the second round at Roland Garros.
Champion Naomi Osaka didnāt make the trip to France at all; No. 21 seed Jennifer Brady was upset in her opening match by a 17-year-old qualifier.
The French Openās start was postponed to September from May because of the coronavirus pandemic, and there were plenty of questions beforehand about what effects there would be from the quick and unusual shift from North America to Europe, from hard courts to red clay.
Azarenka wouldnāt entertain the premise.
āIām just going to speak only for myself, and I will say that today was not the case of a turnaround, was not the case of the court, was not the case of anything else,ā said the former No. 1 and two-time Australian Open champion. āThis is a lesson for me to learn. I donāt think about what happened in New York, today. So, to me, it doesnāt really matter.ā
It was in the third set of Williamsā semifinal against Azarenka at Flushing Meadows that Williams stretched her left Achilles while chasing a shot. Williams took a long pause, clutched at that leg and then took a medical timeout so a trainer could wrap it.
āDidnāt have enough time to properly heal after the Open. I was able to get it somewhat better, but just looking long-term in this tournament, will I be able to get through enough matches? And so, for me, I donāt think I could,ā Williams said Wednesday. āIām struggling to walk, so thatās kind of a telltale sign that I should try to recover.ā
She played with a vertical strip of black athletic tape along her Achilles during her first-round match Monday, but there were no other obvious signs of trouble during the 7-6 (2), 6-0 victory over Kristie Ahn.
āI felt like I needed to, like, walk with a limp,ā Williams said, āand that was no good.ā
This is the second time in her past three appearances in Paris that she pulled out of the French Open before a match because of an injury. It happened in 2018, when she was to face Maria Sharapova in the fourth round; that was Williamsā first Grand Slam tournament in more than a year because she was off the tour while having a baby.
After that, she was the runner-up at four of the next six majors, falling just short of adding to her professional-era record of 23 Slam singles championships and equaling Margaret Courtās all-era mark.
Williams said she needs a month or more now of āsitting and doing nothingā because of the Achilles, meaning her 2020 is āmore than likelyā done.
If anyone was wondering whether Williams is thinking about moving on after more than two decades as a transcendent figure in her sport, she offered an encouraging message.
āI love playing tennis, obviously. I love competing. And I love being out here. Itās my job; been my job. And Iām pretty good at it still,ā Williams said.
āIām so close to some things, I just feel like Iām almost there," she said, "so I think thatās what keeps me going.ā
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AP Sports Writers John Leicester and Jerome Pugmire reported from Paris; AP Tennis Writer Fendrich reported from Washington.
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