Why Serena Isn't Playing

A very blunt look at the state of Serena Williams' tennis career in the following article. 

The other half of her career seems still to be going strong.  She was on Oprah this Monday along with Venus (something about saving teenage girls I hear).

Also this week came a press release announcing that she and Venus will be featured during the first week of a new show "ESPN Hollywood" set to debut in August of this year.  The premise of the show - a focus on the off-court, entertainment-related lives of athletes. 

From Tennis Reporters: Serena's Pull Out

It’s gotten to the point where it’s become incredibly boring announcing Serena Williams’ withdrawals. This time, it’s Miami, but it’s the same reason: She’s out of shape because she’s not committed enough to rehab her chronically sore knee.

If she was committed, like she was at the turn of last year when she won the Aussie Open, she could rehab, but she’s not. It’s the least well kept secret in the sport that she's found plenty of time to hit the New York and LA party circuit, but has devoted little time to get in shape and practice her sport.

Who knows when she’ll come back, but it’s hard to see her rushing back for clay court tournaments. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say Wimbledon, which she almost never misses. Bu,t even then, I wouldn’t be surprised if she skipped the whole year entirely.

The thing is, the tour is not accepting these withdrawals as legitimate injury pull outs, which is why Serena is drowning in bonus pool fines, somewhere in the neighborhood of $400,000...

It’s a very sad state of affairs for Serena, who, with the exception of her mom, surrounds herself with a clucking group of enablers. Like Tom Cruise, she disdains so-called “negative” people. She wants people around who keep telling her how very cool she is, and how very sexy she looks.

Why return to a sport where she’d have to walk on court and prove her celebrity status once again? Why hit the practice courts 25 pounds overweight like she did in Australia only to have photographers snap shots on her bottom and send them around the world and risk having her friends see them? It’s easier to hide behind an injury excuse and put off thinking about when she should return or if she wants to put herself through the grinder again.

Given what an incredible performer she was from 1998-2003, her decision not to play is bad for the sport and for her own personal development. Just tell the truth, please.

“It's pretty strange the way Serena is not at her best level right now,” Henin-Hardenne said. “It's probably very hard physically. She was tough for a long period of time. She's a great champion. She has been mentally one of the toughest players that I've seen on the tour. Probably now she's a bit tired about that. Physically, maybe it's harder for her to work as hard as she did before. But I think that we have other personalities on the tour that can promote the game. But, for sure, Serena, she has a name, The tour needs her, that's for sure. It's pretty sad that she's not playing a lot now.“

Comments

[shawn]

I think the ESPN Hollywood is old news. That show launched a long time ago. And the Oprah appearance was a repeat.

[Ally]

Two or three years ago Serena could blow off tournaments, come back and mop the floor with any player - she can't do that any longer and she knows it.

It will be interesting to see how much of the clay-court season either sister plays, if they play it at all and how they will do at the French Open. Actually, the only tournament I think both sisters can walk into cold and win is Wimbledon - because the grass suits their game perfectly. Interesting, isn't it? To me, if they're playing Wimbledon, I can't bet against them there.

[lisen]

Whoops - I'm out of date. Sorry.

Wimbledon suits Venus' game perfectly for sure. But Serena's? Why?

[kundalini]

I think it is great that the Williams sisters have other interests beyond the tennis court. They have already demonstrated their exceptional ability and if they want to devote more time to acting (Serena) and fashion (Venus) then why not?

Of course their tennis suffers, and they are no longer full time players willing to turn up to tournament after tournament. Last year they were pretty fortunate to end the season with a slam each, as both managed to fit all their best performances into a single tournament. I can't see them being so lucky this time around.

Personally, I no problem with Serena skipping events, just showing up when she feels she has a decent chance of success. I guess she will turn up for Wimbledon but a repeat of last year seems likely as her lack of hours on the practice court may hurt her in matches.

While Serena is the outstanding player of her generation, she is not so good that she can beat top players when unfit. Sometimes you wonder whether she appreciates this.

As for the tour, I think it should move on and stop relying on the Williams sisters to promote events that they are unlikely to feature in. So no more complaining when one or other Williams fails to show at the last minute.

[blake fan]

who cares about fatty serena? hingis is back!

[boisetennis]

Hey Blake Fan, I was going to say that, you stole my words. OK, I'll add Liposuction and breast reduction and she will be back in the top 10 in no time.

[Ratinum]

The question is not who cares about fatty Serena.. The question is who cares about tennis without Serena. Another question is does Serena care about tennis if she's already dominated the game for such a long time.

If you can make more money doing reality TV shows and cameo acting appearances than you can grinding your body down chasing after a ball what would you do?

I realize peoples' anxiety about whether she will or will not play. Is the casual fan caring about Henin-Hardenne or Capriati or Hingis? I don't think so. Fatty Serena is where it's at or you wouldn't be reading this stupid blog right now.

[Bollox]

Either you play or you don't. If you play, you play to win. Serena. bring it on or get lost. People have very short memories. Don't make your legacy stink.

David

I agree with David, In the Aussia Open, any other match, she could have killed Hantuchova, but she was killed, why play when she isn't playing to win? Serena is more or less playing just so she won't get fined by the WTA Tour for missing too many events. Hasn't she had this knee injury for ever, or so it seems.