Yet she still is the No. 1 women’s player in the world and she occupies the No. 1 seed at the U.S. Open, which begins at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Monday. She said she practiced for just two days before the Olympics and has spent little time on court since as she undergoes physical therapy. I know she’s a good player.
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“One thing I learned about previous year is to enjoy the moment”, Williams said. Slowed by a bothersome right shoulder, Williams lost in the third round of singles and first round of doubles at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics – she was a 2012 gold medallist in both events – and then pulled out of a hard-court tuneup event in Ohio.
When questioned by another user about whether she was undermining Graf’s achievements, Evert responded by commenting “I’ll say it better, as to not take anything away from Steffi”. “I’ve played so many British people over the last few weeks in the Challengers that as soon as I saw Heather and Naomi had drawn qualifiers, I just had that feeling that I was going to play one of them”. After the match, Djokovic had claimed that he was “not really” 100 percent. “But it’s not the place and time to talk about it”.
On Friday, Djokovic conceded “it was some other things that I was going through privately”. He wouldn’t elaborate other than to say that now “everything is fine”.
Janowicz has also had to overcome a niggling knee injury while Djokovic admits he is not fully fit himself: “My wrist is not 100 per-cent but I am getting there”. Because the 14-time Grand Slam champ is a lefty, his issue is the forehand.
When he first came back, he recalled, “you try to find movements to avoid the pain”.
Murray, the world number two, faces the Czech in his first match, while world number one Novak Djokovic plays Jerzy Janowicz.
Last year, Williams came into the Open having won the previous three Grand Slam titles and was considered the overwhelming favorite for the calendar year slam. Her ranking has slipped to 36th, and she just missed a seed at Flushing Meadows.
Doing an interview shortly after the draw was set, Djokovic joked he wasn’t “mentally ready” to see his bracket quite yet and wanted to wait until “I’m alone”.
Williams could face fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis, which is also when she could potentially meet sister Venus.
Second seed Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open champion, starts against Slovenia’s Polona Hercog.
Williams drew Russian lefthander Ekaterina Makarova as her first opponent.
Bellis became the darling of the 2014 tournament when the then-15-year-old stunned Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova in the first round.
Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champ, is ranked just 142nd after three left wrist surgeries. That scenario won’t occur – del Petro meets countryman Diego Schwartzman in his opener.
Men’s second seed Murray, who ran off 22 wins in a row including his second Wimbledon title and successful defence of his Olympics crown, appeared to get a more favorable draw.
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The 25-year-old from Lodz, who is no longer ranked inside the world’s top 200, has struggled for form in recent seasons but was a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2013 when he lost in four sets to eventual champion Murray.
