Serena Williams withdraws from the 2020 French Open 2R

[Red Rick]

Guess she'll try for one more year?

 

[bigjimbofan]

Sometimes she seems like she is stuck on the baseline when someone hits it very quickly and directly at her. The feet cant keep up with the brain. Time does that to everyone.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

Achilles issue, good idea not to risk a rupture

True--athlete or not, that kind of injury can cost you much if its taken lightly. Thankfully, Serena is approaching this the right way.

You had me til you mentioned the weight, it was a thing when she first returned but she is not fat or in bad weight. She doesn't have the strength and stamina she once did.

This was from the USO. It's not the weight. It's the age, loss of stamina and the opponents no longer fearing them. People need to stop with weight.

Its all they have...when they are not wearing the hoods for their usual line of attack against her.

Then, you have the type who still dream of bone-thin country club types only there to be "eye candy" for their ancient views on women in tennis. Slowly but surely, this kind of person is being phased out of society.

 

[Deleted member 771911]

All her focus will be on AO now.

 

[Silverbullet96]

Correct, pushing 40, she might not get away with all that anymore.

Maybe she can. 10 years ago we thought about the age 30 like that.

 

[Jack the Hack]

She made 4 slam finals during that time and usually goes far like SF, QF in the other ones so let's not pretend that she was irrelevant. Why should she retire when she knows that if she's playing well she still can go far and have a chance to win? It's not like the case with Venus who barely wins a round in slams these days.

I didn't say she should retire. I just said that her time at the top is over. Yes, in the past 4 years, she has made 4 Slam finals... and lost all of them handily. Her last Slam final was over a year ago. Since then, she lost in the 3rd round of the Australian, the semifinals of the US Open, and now the 2nd round of the French. She'll be ranked outside of the top 10 at year end and is turning 40 next year. She can continue to play as long as she wants, but I wouldn't say she the favorite to win any future Slam tournaments, especially since it will have been almost a half decade since her last win. Again, I think she's an ATG and maybe the GOAT, but this is the sunset of her career, and it's not crazy or disrespectful to point that out. For that matter, I believe Federer is likely done as well and I'm a huge fan. When the 2021 Australian Open rolls around, Fed will be 3 years removed since his last Slam win, coming back from double knee surgery, and turning 40. 40-15 last summer was his last realistic shot at winning a Slam title in my opinion.

Aside from that, Serena is a part time player on the tour at best. Here's the number of tournaments she has played in each of the past 5 years:

2016 = 8
2017 = 2
2018 = 7
2019 = 8
2020 = 7

Like she usually does after the last Slam tournament is done, I expect that she's going to shut it down for the rest of this year, so we won't see her again until 2021.

 

[Bartelby]

Serena just feels that the AO a more fitting place for history to be made.

 

[USO]

I didn't say she should retire. I just said that her time at the top is over. Yes, in the past 4 years, she has made 4 Slam finals... and lost all of them handily. Her last Slam final was over a year ago. Since then, she lost in the 3rd round of the Australian, the semifinals of the US Open, and now the 2nd round of the French. She'll be ranked outside of the top 10 at year end and is turning 40 next year. She can continue to play as long as she wants, but I wouldn't say she the favorite to win any future Slam tournaments, especially since it will have been almost a half decade since her last win. Again, I think she's an ATG and maybe the GOAT, but this is the sunset of her career, and it's not crazy or disrespectful to point that out. For that matter, I believe Federer is likely done as well and I'm a huge fan. When the 2021 Australian Open rolls around, Fed will be 3 years removed since his last Slam win, coming back from double knee surgery, and turning 40. 40-15 last summer was his last realistic shot at winning a Slam title in my opinion.

Aside from that, Serena is a part time player on the tour at best. Here's the number of tournaments she has played in each of the past 5 years:

2016 = 8
2017 = 2
2018 = 7
2019 = 8
2020 = 7

Like she usually does after the last Slam tournament is done, I expect that she's going to shut it down for the rest of this year, so we won't see her again until 2021.

Of course she will not be dominant anymore she’s nearly 40. The same for Federer. But it doesn’t mean that they have zero chance to win because for example they have a huge serve so in some tournaments like Wimbledon they can still have a shot but of course it’s a small shot at this point. With them who knows they might become the first man or woman to win a slam in their 40s. They might need a lot of luck and it could be just a 1 tournament thing where they peak while for the rest of the year they are inconsistant, but it could happen!

 

[fed1]

She made 4 slam finals during that time and usually goes far like SF, QF in the other ones so let's not pretend that she was irrelevant. Why should she retire when she knows that if she's playing well she still can go far and have a chance to win? It's not like the case with Venus who barely wins a round in slams these days.

You see the that she makes the finals in these Slams but do you watch these final matches? When she mights the players at the top she gets blitzed! I have said this before, if you are a Serena fan and you still think she can win slams go back and watch the US Open final with objectivity, it was such a complete mismatch. She wasn’t even in the same neighborhood as Andreescu.

 

[Syfo-Dias]

Not the biggest Serena fan, but I hope she heals quickly. Achilles injuries are no joke. I had issues with mine last year, and when it's bad, it's a struggle to even walk.

 

[Tennis_dude101]

True--athlete or not, that kind of injury can cost you much if its taken lightly. Thankfully, Serena is approaching this the right way.

Rubish, She injured her Achilles at the US Open two weeks ago. It was a silly move to try to play a grand slam without giving it time to heal. She had no chance of going deep in this tournament.. .

 

[Friedman Whip]

I've never had Achilles problems but I don't understand how she could have hurt herself during the Open match and still moved extremely well the rest of that match, which she definitely did.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

I've never had Achilles problems but I don't understand how she could have hurt herself during the Open match and still moved extremely well the rest of that match, which she definitely did.

Sometimes odd things can cause injury. I played HS volleyball and was fine and during the tennis season it was fine. I played about an hour during summer vacation at low intensity and was fine. I woke up the next day and it hurt. I thought it would go away in a few days but it was bad enough that I couldn't go out for the volleyball team in the fall.

 

[Tennis_dude101]

I've never had Achilles problems but I don't understand how she could have hurt herself during the Open match and still moved extremely well the rest of that match, which she definitely did.

It is not uncommon for athletes to have pain killers injections to help get through a big match. If Serena did the injury in the semifinal I could understand her taking the chance to play the final as she could take the next 6 months off to rehab it properly. But playing with the injury from R1 is foolish IMO.

TD

 

[clout]

I don't think she had much of a chance at winning this title anyways. Given her age and fitness (or lack there of), no way can she win 7 straight matches in these brutal Parisian conditions. As someone mentioned above, the HC and grass majors in 2021 will likely be her last chance at both tying and passing the record

 

[DSH]

She and Federer are straining their bodies by playing at such an old age that they can't take it anymore.
The price: Injuries and more injuries!

 

[Kalin]

An Achilles injury is no joke and she should take care of it. As for Serena's (or Venus' or Roger's) time being up- it's up to the others to convince them their time is past, no? As long as they keep going deep in big tournaments why should they retire. I wouldn't and I bet none of you would.

So while I have never been Serena's biggest fan I fully understand why she keeps playing. She should play as long as she feels she has a chance to win... and even past that if she so wishes. She's one of the players who have earned the right to do as they please (same as Venus and Roger, btw)

I admit I'm glad Pironkova is the one who benefitted from the withdrawal. Drawing Serena two Slam tournaments in a row is as tough as it gets. )

 

[speedysteve]

No. You don't get taller but you get stockier. Your bones keep growing thicker. You will find out when you grow up!

Sorry this is wrong!

Search and find proper info, there's so much about it out there.
Example.

Just Like Everything Else, Our Bones Change With Age

Most of us don’t realize the effect aging has on our skeletal systems. Learn more about what you can do to preserve your bones and joints as you grow older.

www.henryford.com

If you are getting heavier past 30 to 40, it's NOT that your bones are growing! Try eating a bit less

 

[MichaelNadal]

QueenRena Still GOAT