Troubled by injury and a private matter that affected him at Wimbledon, world No.1 Novak Djokovic concedes that time is against him as he prepares to end his grand slam season on a high at the US Open. Australian Open champ Angelique Kerber and French Open victor Garbine Muguruza are in the other half of the draw, which was set Friday.
Advertisement
“Then when tournament starts, all the doors are open”.
Things haven’t been rosy since.
The injury followed her through the Emirates Airline US Open Series, forcing her withdrawal from the Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open, with a third round loss at the Olympic tennis event in between.
American Sloane Stephens has withdrawn from the U.S. Open because of a right foot injury.
“I haven’t played a lot, I haven’t practiced a lot, but I’m just now starting to feel a little better”.
Williams said the last time she felt that her serve was a fully functioning weapon was at Wimbledon, where the women’s final was contested July 9. I hope I’m still playing like this when I’m 38 years old but it’s pretty unlikely so I’m actually using that as a positive that you have to make the most of every opportunity. “That’s all I can do now”.
Serena Williams can overtake Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 grand slam titles if she triumphs at Flushing Meadows.
“She’s a big fighter”.
“Of course it’s really special that a lot of people are speaking about her and then speaking about me”.
She fell short, losing in a shocking semi-final upset to unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci. “You think she’s not super quick, but she is”. “I think I try to look at it as we all always have tough matches”.
Fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland also has an outside chance at the world number one ranking if she can claim her first Grand Slam title.
Djokovic lost in the first round at the Rio Games to 2009 U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro, whose ranking slipped because of left wrist problems of his own. He also could encounter the surging Marin Cilic, the 2014 Open champion, in the quarterfinals, and possibly Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
Williams’s bid to retain her Olympic singles title ended in Rio de Janeiro this month when she was sent crashing out of the third round by Elina Svitolina.
Olympic champion Monica Puig could be her third-round opponent.
“I obviously have had a phenomenal Grand Slam career that I’m very proud of and very grateful for”, Djokovic said Friday, the defending champion here and top seed.
Keys was guided by former Wimbledon victor Lindsay Davenport during her breakout season in 2015.
Robson will earn 43,313 (£33,000) United States dollars for her progress, but also invaluable confidence, the victory coming on the back of winning an ITF event in Landisville earlier this month.
Asked when her shoulder problems began, Williams replied: “Ironically enough, the day after the finals of Wimbledon”.
If Williams isn’t at full strength, Kerber is just one of the players poised to pounce.
Roger Federer, victor of a record 17 grand slam titles, is missing the U.S. Open as he recovers from injury, but was not shy about handicapping it.
Advertisement
The 23-year-old Stephens was a 2013 quarterfinalist at Flushing Meadows and reached the semifinals at the Australian Open that year.
