Serena Williams injured again; pulls out of the Brisbane International 2012
Former world number one, Serena Williams, suffered an ankle injury during her match against the Serb, Bojana Jovanovski, on Wednesday. Regardless of bagging the match later on, she withdrew from the Brisbane International 2012,
a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier event taking place on the outdoor hard courts in Brisbane, Australia.
The American veteran, who spent 123 non-consecutive weeks at number one spot in the WTA rankings, was leading 6-2, 5-3 against Jovanovski when she twisted her ankle. Williams received treatment for almost 10 minutes and got her
ankle re-taped before resuming the match while suffering pain. Regardless of limping in the next game, she maintained her intensity and sealed the deal with a 6-2, 6-4 victory. The American lost her serve thrice but broke Jovanovski’s serve six times to clinch
the match in straight sets in an hour and 26 minutes long battle.
"I'm disappointed to have to pull out of the Brisbane International," the American said. "I have been to hospital and it has been confirmed that I have a left ankle sprain that I probably shouldn't play on.”
Currently ranked 12th in the WTA rankings, Williams was playing her first tournament since her loss at the US Open final (at the hands of Samantha Stosur) in September. She made an excellent start to the 2012 WTA season
at Brisbane International by taking down South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers in the opening round and secured a berth in the quarter-finals before pulling out of the event due to injury.
"I was a little rusty, not playing since the US Open, but I think I did well," Williams said after her win. "I've taken some of the rust off - I definitely have tons of room for improvement though."
The American icon is eyeing to recover before the Australian Open 2012 which is starting from January 16th.
"I'm going to take a couple of days off, not too many, and see how I feel… I'm still hopeful of playing the Australian Open."
30-year-old failed to defend her Australian Open title last year after recovering from two operations on her foot and blood clots in her lungs that ruled her out of tennis for almost a year since Wimbledon 2010. She made a comeback
at Eastbourne in June after ruling out from the Grand Slam in 2010. Despite exiting from the second round, Williams made a fourth round showing at the Wimbledon Championships 2011 and then cruised to lift a title at the Stanford WTA event. She kept momentum
rolling in Toronto and grabbed another title (downed Stosur in the final) before entering the US Open.
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