Former World Number 1 Serena Williams drops out of Hopman Cup for the third time
The world’s best female tennis player Serena Williams has been elusive since July, when she played Wimbledon, and it seems as if that state of affairs will continue. According to reports, she has now dropped out of the Hopman Cup– an event which was supposed
to be her comeback, before the 2011 Australian Open.
The player recently gave up her World Number 1 position to fresh-faced Russian player, Caroline Wozniacki, who ended the year with the top position in hand. Serena, on the other hand, reportedly suffered from a foot injury inflicted at a night club due to
shattered glass which lacerated her sole.
She has been seen attending numerous events with foot braces or crutches in hand. She has registered for, and dropped out of multiple tournaments this year since the injury. This drop-out pattern has resulted in her inability to defend her points and her
subsequent drop in the charts.
The first tournament that the younger Williams sister dropped out of was the 2010 US Open, which was won by tennis mama Kim Clijsters. After this, she made repeated promises to come back, however, she always dropped out at the last moment. This did not increase
her popularity with organizers, who considered it an inconvenience and bad publicity to advertise the appearance of one of tennis’s most sought-after personalities only to cancel later on.
She was also slated to return to the tour for three other tournaments, for which she began practice in September. However, she put off her comeback by pulling out of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, as well as the China Open in Beijing and the only WTA
event in Austria, the Generali Ladies Linz.
She kept updating her website throughout her changes of mind, and it concluded with her pulling out of the Women’s Tennis Association Championships at Doha and the Fed Cup final against Italy, at which she had promised her participation to the American team.
She blamed her lack of ability to participate on training too intensively, saying, “Pushed by my desire to return to competition, I trained too hard too soon and re-tore the tendon in my foot. As a result, yesterday morning I had to have another procedure
to repair it. I thank everyone for their continued support during this difficult time and look forward with strength and determination to getting back on the court”.
Most recently, Serena Williams has told the organizers of the Hopman Cup that she will once again be unable to participate in the first event of the new year, citing her foot injury as the reason behind this absence.
She was recently seen by fans leaving a game at the NFL on crutches. Serena, who won the 2010 Australian Open, was also scheduled to play at Perth with American pro John Isner. This is the third time that Williams has withdrawn from the Hopman Cup, and the
seventh event she has dropped out of this year.
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