US Open 2010: Serena William’s withdrawal leaves the field wide open for the rest of the players
The Line judges at the Flushing Meadows this year can relax as the world number one tennis player, Serena Williams from United States of America will not be gunning for her final major trophy, while the last Grand Slam competition of the season will get underway on Monday.
Her recent decision of withdrawal after injuring her right foot last month implies that the officials of the match will breathe much more comfortably knowing that there are no chances of the replay episode of her foul-mouthed outburst of the previous season.
However, rather than detract from the championship, William’s absence unintentionally laid the basis for one of the most wide open United States Open tennis tournament from the women’s side this year.
There is undoubtedly a lot of depth in the game of tennis, as far as the women’s side is concerned, and while Serena has been the major player for the last couple of years, there are now a variety of contenders willing to step-up.
At least a dozen contenders hold strong hopes of triumphing at the US Open tennis tournament starting from Monday, however as far as the odds maker are concerned, Kim Clijsters the two-time winner at the Flushing meadows is the hot favourite to win this year’s title as seeded second in New York.
The Belgian captured her very first trophy back in 2005; however it was her impressive win back in 2009 after making a return to the professional game of tennis.
After getting the better of younger players to register her name as the second mother to win a major title, Kim celebrated her victory by bringing her baby daughter out on the centre court in New York back in 2009.
Clijsters has also recently won the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament and is looking forward to successfully defend her US Open title when the play gets underway on Monday in New York.
“Obviously you cannot say anything for sure. However one can try her level best,” she told the reporters on Friday.
The top-seeded player at the Flushing Meadows, Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark on the other hand is recently enjoying her top form and is most likely to win the title in New York. The Den was knocked down by Clijsters in the final battle of the US Open tennis tournament last year at the hands of Kim Clijsters in straight sets.
She triumphed in Montreal earlier this month and in case the Den manages to grab her first major title this season at the Flushing Meadows, Caroline could overtake the American tennis ace, Serena Williams as the top-ranked player in the world.
The Serbian tennis star Jelena Jankovic, on the other hand is a possible semi-finalist in the top half of the women’s draw in New York. However, Jelena will most probably have to beat the Russian tennis player, Maria Sharapova in the fourth round of the tournament on her way into the semis.
Sharapova has already captured three of the four major trophies; only the clay court French Open has eluded the Russian so far in her career.
She returned after her shoulder injury earlier this season and has been improving and working really hard on her game since then. The Russian recently made her way into the final of the ATP Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament and won a total of three match points before going down to her Belgian opponent Kim Clijsters.
Kuznetsova, Sharapova and Clijsters are three of the four contenders at the Flushing Meadows who have already captured the United States Open title in their career. The fourth one is Venus Williams who won it back in 2000 as well as in 2001.
While the fourth-ranked Williams has not participated in a major final outside the grass court Grand Slam tournament in seven years, she can never be ignored.
She has been named in the same section along with Francesca Schiavone and in the same half as Samantha Stosur, a finalist in Paris this season and another strong contender at the Flushing Meadow, particularly due to her powerful serve.
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