Thigh Injury May Force Serena Out of Italian Open
The women’s world number one Serena Williams has still yet to decide if she will play in the Internazional BNL d’Italia tournament that began on Tuesday. A thigh injury forced her out of the quarterfinal match in the Mutua Madrid Open last week, where she received heavy treatment for her leg.
“I’m taking it a day at a time,” said Williams. “We’ll see as the week goes on. I have the rest of the day off and I’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I hit some balls today a little bit so I’m going to see later tonight how it feels.”
Williams won the tournament last year, as well as back in 2002, and has a bye into the second round. If she decides to play tomorrow, she will face Bosnian Andrea Petkovic, who knocked off Switzerland’s Romina Oprandi in their first round matchup.
Serena is one of eight Americans competing in this tournament, along with her older sister, Venus. The younger Williams sister dismissed claims that she is taking a precautionary measure by not playing, indicating that at this point in her career she cannot waste any more opportunities.
“I don’t do anything out of precaution anymore,” stressed Williams. “You live once and I feel like anything can happen tomorrow. I just physically couldn’t play. I was in a lot of pain and just wasn’t able to continue. When I play I want to give 100 percent. I want to go out there and I want to give the fans everything that they deserve and everything that they come to see.”
If Williams decides the pain is too much and withdraws, Petkovic will ease into the third round.
