Serena and her Mysterious Foot Injury
This year, Serena Williams seemed to be on a roll. World Number 1, she competed in and won tournaments like the Medibank International, the Australian Open and Wimbledon while reaching at least the quarter finals in almost every other sporting competition,
such as the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and the French Open. The 28 year old tennis star was a favourite to win the 2010 US Open tournament, where she was seeded first.
Many fans bought tickets exclusively for the purpose of seeing her in action, and so it came as a shock and disappointment to fans and critics alike when Williams announced that she would be dropping out of the tournament this year, due to a foot laceration
suffered in July which would require surgery. Williams also issued a statement explaining to fans, “It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the US Open. My doctors have advised against my playing so that my foot can heal.”
This explanation would have seemed plausible had it not been for the fact that before her surgery had taken place, she travelled to Brussels to play an exhibition match against, of all people, pro Kim Clijsters. To add to this doubt, Williams was photographed
at her housewarming party after the injury, wearing high heels, which would have been intensely uncomfortable with the lacerations she had supposedly suffered. Fans immediately became suspicious and began demanding answers as to when and where the injury had
taken place. Williams’s publicity agent refused to comment, saying the player was reluctant to blame her performance on the injury; this did not go down well with the public, and doubts about the veracity of Serena’s explanation began to make the rounds.
However, Serena recently made an attempt to explain her situation, saying she did not “know how it happened”, but she had suffered a torn tendon due to a glass cut in her foot, leading to swelling, pain and a drooping toe. She brushes off her exhibition
match with Clijsters, saying, “I had a lot of pain in Belgium and was getting nervous because that was when I noticed my toe was drooping ...but I thought the pain and swelling would go away and that I'd probably be all right in a week." She also explained
the housewarming incident, saying “I love heels, I’m a sucker for heels ... so I took the pictures with those shoes, then wore flats the rest of the night. I couldn't have worn heels the whole night.”
Needless to say, these explanations did not assuage many doubts. Fans remained unsure of her actual injuries, but in early September, she issued a statement saying she was out of the walking boot she had been confined to since the surgery, and was practicing
for further tournaments, as well as training for the Fed Cup in November. She mentioned that she did not need anything other than extra tape for her foot anymore.
However, two days ago she pulled out of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The tournament included players like Maria Sharapova (the defending champion), Vera Zvonareva, Francesca Schiavone, Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki. After this announcement,
Williams also dropped out of the 2010 China Open, which includes players like Sharapova, Clijsters, sister Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic. The official statement issued by Williams states, “While I have continued to make progress in the recovery of my foot
injury, unfortunately I am still not ready to compete at the upcoming Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and China Open in Beijing. In the meantime, I am focused on my rehab program and remain optimistic to return to competition this season.”
As yet, it is unclear whether Williams actually did suffer an injury serious enough for her to drop out of tournaments which could cost her the World Number 1 position. If she is concealing the truth, her motives for doing so are equally vague. All fans
can do is wait for November, to see if Serena delivers on her promise to make it to the Fed Cup for America.
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