US Open: Serena Williams insists injury played no part in semi-final defeat to Victoria Azarenka
ByReuters
Updated 11/09/2020 at 08:00 GMT
Serena Williams insists injury played no part in her semi-final defeat to Victoria Azarenka as her wait for her 24th Grand Slam continues. The American great has remained one title behind Margaret Court's all-time record since bagging her 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy at the Australian Open in January 2017.
Serena Williams
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Serena Williams insists injury played no part in her semi-final defeat to Victoria Azarenka as her wait for her 24th Grand Slam continues.
Williams has lost four Grand Slam finals since returning to the circuit in 2018 following the birth of her daughter and once against fell short on Thursday when she bowed out to Victoria Azarenka with a 1-6 6-3 6-3 defeat in the U.S. Open semi-finals.
Heading into the deciding set, she felt a sudden pain in her Achilles and had extra strapping applied. But Serena thought it had little to do with the defeat.
"It wasn’t much," she said. "I just was stretching. I ran for a shot. Off that first step that I took, it was a long point – it wasn’t my ankle, it was actually my Achilles.
"It just overstretched. It was pretty intense then that was that.
I mean, it feels fine. I don’t think it had anything to do [with the loss]. I think Victoria played well. It didn’t affect my play ultimately at all, just for that one point.
The American great has remained one title behind Margaret Court's all-time record since bagging her 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy at the Australian Open in January 2017.
"I don't know. I mean, it's obviously disappointing," Williams told reporters, before confirming that she would participate in the French Open which begins on September 21.
"At the same time I did what I could today. I feel like other times I've been close and I could have done better. Today I felt like I gave a lot."
Many former pundits have said she might be running out of time to win a Grand Slam again.
It was definitely not getting any easier for Williams, who will turn 39 a day before the main draw kicks off in Paris on her least rewarding surface where the American won her third and last title in 2015.
Asked how the string of losses deep in the tournaments affect her morale as she strives to become the most successful women's player, Williams said: "I don't know. I just... I don't know. I haven't thought about that actually."
Williams had, however, started really strongly in Thursday's last match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court and cantered through the opening set with three breaks of Azarenka's service.
"Then she just kept fighting. She just changed and started playing better and better. Maybe I took a little too much off the gas pedal at some point," Williams rued, saying her opponent just kept improving through the match.
"I made a lot more errors. I didn't win a lot on my second serves. I served well, but I didn't dominate the way I needed to in that."
Additional reporting from Reuters.
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