Serena Williams: Surrounded by Controversy
The Williams family is notorious for being able to keep secrets and distract reporters from the real story, but Serena Williams seem to have taken the mystique to a whole new level. Her mysterious foot injury has conspiracy theorists speculating with one
proposal after another, to attempt to explain her long, career-hampering absence.
For those who are as yet unfamiliar with the story, Williams allegedly suffered a foot sustained by stepping on broken glass in a night club on a trip to Munich, Germany. As a consequence of these injuries and the subsequent surgery and recovery time, she
was forced to drop out of several tournaments.
The last tournament Williams competed in was the 2010 Wimbledon Championship, where she won the title match against Vera Zvonareva. After this success, Williams dropped out of many WTA tour events, including the ones held in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal.
She also missed the last major of the year, the 2010 US Open tournament. These absences could cost her the World Number 1 position, which Dane 20 year old Caroline Wozniacki may seize from her within the week.
Coming back to the conspiracy theories, a number of very improbable rumors have made their way into Internet chat rooms, increasing the suspiciousness of Williams’s absence. Some websites have claimed that Serena Williams is absent due to a rhinoplasty (cosmetic
altering of the nose by means of surgery) and that the glass cut foot is merely an excuse, with the boot she used to protect her foot simply drawing attention away from her face.
The Daily Mail in London claims that Williams’s injury is a mock-up, leading to her absence from the 2010 US Open because of last year’s upset over the lineswoman who called a foot fault on Serena Williams. In this incident, Williams had lost control and
burst out at the lineswoman, earning herself a reprimand. The Daily Mail suggests that it is over this occurrence that Williams is still offended, and hence dropped out of the US Open.
The last conspiracy theorist is Greg Couch, who writes for AOL Fanhouse. Strangely enough, Couch claims that Serena Williams has faked the entire injury, as a bizarre ploy for media attention.
For starters, it is a known fact that all Sony Ericsson WTA players are mandated to submit medical documents and doctor’s papers in the event that an injury proves serious enough to prevent them from entering tournaments, along with a professional opinion.
Serena Williams has already submitted these documents. Official information regarding the injury is then released by the tour, and additional information may only be given with the authorization of the player; in this case, Williams declined to give this.
This proves that the tennis star did in fact injure her foot, and that she had surgery and is currently recovering from it.
Despite repeated reports declaring her return in a number of events, the injury has proved serious enough for Williams to miss both the 2010 Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and the 2010 China Open in Beijing. Serena Williams and her return are anticipated at the
WTA Championships, held in November. The official website of the 2010 Kremlin Cup indicates that she is likely to play in the tournament, as a warm-up to the year-end championships; all that remains to be seen is whether or not Serena actually plans a comeback
at this event.
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