|
Since tennis returned from a COVID-19 hiatus
that lasted nearly five months, Williams has gone 3-2 in matches
that all lasted three sets and have taken a toll on her weary
legs.
"It's hard to play the way I have been playing and to stay
positive," said Williams. "And to play nine hours in a week is
too much. I don't usually play like that. It's all new for me."
After falling to world number 116 Shelby Rogers in the Top Seed
Open quarter-finals, Williams went on to the Western & Southern
Open where she lost in the third round to 13th-seeded Greek
Maria Sakkari.
Williams squandered an opportunity to close out the Sakkari
contest on serve in the second set and started getting cramps as
her opponent launched a comeback.
"I don't think that helps mentally when it's like you know the
match is over and you have won the match, and now your legs were
already tired and now they are even more tired, and now it's
even more tired," said Williams.
"I put myself in a bad situation. It's like dating a guy that
you know sucks. That's literally what I keep doing out here.
It's like I have got to get rid of this guy. It just makes no
sense. It's frustrating."
With so many of the world's top players opting not to travel to
New York amid the COVID-19 outbreak for the Aug. 31-Sept. 13
U.S. Open, the path to a Grand Slam title might never again
appear so undaunting for Williams.
The 38-year-old will be seeded third at the U.S. Open and was
drawn into the same quarter as former champion Sloane Stephens,
2017 finalist Madison Keys, two-times Grand Slam winner Garbine
Muguruza and Sakkari.
"If she doesn't win this one, I would think people, and more
specifically she herself, would most probably doubt that she can
win another one," seven-times Grand Slam champion and Eurosport
analyst Mats Wilander said.
"If she doesn't win this one, it's going to be harder to win the
next one and the one after that."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Additional reporting by
Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
