Palo Alto (USA): Top-ranked Serena Williams, in her first tournament since looking weak in a disturbing Wimbledon exit, said her weariness was caused by a virus that had her bed-ridden for three days.
Williams, who will make her return on Wednesday in a WTA event at Stanford University, said she is fine now and ready to begin working toward a third consecutive US Open crown and 18th Grand Slam singles title.
“I feel very good,” she said. “I feel very happy to be here, so it’s good.”
But Williams admitted she was fearful herself after a bizarre end to her women’s doubles match with sister Venus at Wimbledon, which began with trainers examining Serena before the match.
She struggled to bounce or toss the ball on serves, double faulting four times in a row in the third game before the match was stopped.
“They just said I was really ill, and really under the weather and I just wasn’t doing very well,” Williams said.
“I was really scared after because I didn’t realize how I felt until later and it’s just, you know, ‘Serena, keep your time, you will have the rest of your life to keep playing tennis hopefully.”
Williams said she had no idea her struggles had people worried, in part because by the time she learned of it she had put the event behind her.
“I heard a lot of the response weeks and weeks later because I didn’t leave my house or my bed for a few days,” Williams said. “But by the time that happened when I read or heard about it from other people I was just like, ‘Oh really, I already moved on.’ I was working out and starting to try to play again.”
Williams also made the most of three weeks off with a vacation to help her recover from the virus. (AFP