Serena Williams, like many other players, is hungry to be back to competitions. The 38-year-old managed to keep her fitness during the Coronavirus lockdown and she is not giving up her dream about matching Margaret Court’s record of 24 slam titles.
Serena was the runner-up during the last 2 editions of the US Open where she was defeated by Naomi Osaka (2018) and Bianca Andreescu (2019). The American ace is expected to give it another shot at the upcoming US Open, but will she?
The US Open and its challenges
After so many talks and controversy, the US Open will be played unless the government will not give formal approval. However, there are many restrictive measures that will be applied. The major will be staged with no fans; also, the players have to be confined in a hotel near the JFK airport and they cannot bring along more than 1 person.
Why Serena Williams may not play…
According to Serena’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou, it would be extremely difficult that Serena will accept not to see her daughter Olympia for 3 weeks. Talking to the CNN, Patrick commented:
“Will she be OK to be three weeks without a daughter? I doubt it. She’s never been one day without her, but only she can answer this question.”
… but it’s completely feasible
However, Patrick said that it’s completely possible for the US Open to take place with the current measures even if it is not ideal. The Frenchman would be in a unique position as he would still be able to oversee Coco Gauff and Stefanos Tsitsipas that are training with him.
“I think it’s possible to go with just a coach. I mean 40 years ago it was like that. So if I speak for myself, I would do the practice sessions. I would have to play with Serena, or she can hit with other players rather than her hitting partner. The fitness I can do, I can have the fitness coach send me the sessions. She can use the physios at the facility. So everything is possible,” he added.
Serena has won the US Open on 6 occasions. The last time she won the title was in 2014 when she defeated her dear friend Caroline Wozniacki in the final 6-3 6-3.
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Serena Williams in 2020
Now ranked no.9, Serena played her last match on the 8th of February when she capitulated to Anastasija Sevastova 7-65 3-6 7-64 in the Rubber 4 of the Fed Cup.
This season Serena Williams has a 8-2 win-loss record. Serena clinched 1 title in Auckland.