Serena Williams’ announcement of her withdrawal from the
US Open
included 78 words and a heart emoji.
اضافة اعلان
It was cool and clinical, referring to her medical team’s advice
to rest a torn hamstring to avoid further injury and a nod to
New York, “one of
the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favorite places to play,”
even if it has also been the site of her most disturbing meltdowns.
Williams became the third aging tennis giant in 10 days to
withdraw from the US Open, the year’s final Grand Slam, following Roger Federer
and Rafael Nadal’s revelations about their own injury struggles. It was also
the latest reminder of how messy and cruel the end of even the most storied
tennis careers usually are, especially for those who stay even slightly past
their sell-by dates.
Nadal, 35, may have some good miles left in his bones, despite
their occasional fragility, but Federer turned 40 this month, and Williams
turns 40 in September.
“Forty in tennis is like 65 in another job,” said John McEnroe,
the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and ESPN commentator.
There are many reasons that tennis does not lend itself to
perfect endings. The modern game imposes immense physical demands and a
relentless schedule. Its ranking system rewards consistent, elite play and
punishes those whose aging bodies only allow them to dabble with lower seeds
and more difficult early-round matches. The knockout format prevents anyone,
regardless of past performance, from being guaranteed a grand setting for a
final match, which can easily occur on a random Tuesday in a half-empty
stadium.
The result is a stark choice for even the best tennis players:
Go out on top while most likely leaving some championships on the table, or
meander through a frustrating descent into being OK at best, which can be less
than fun in a sport that shines its brightest lights on the top two or four
players and lumps nearly everyone else into something of an also-ran category.
A star on a team sport can flicker then fade amid the protection
of teammates. There’s an unforgiving loneliness to stardom in tennis.
The tennis equivalent of Derek Jeter’s gift-collecting farewell
tour as the Yankees’ shortstop — an unproductive .256 batting average over 145
games coupled with not good but not embarrassing defense — is a lot of
early-round losses to journeymen.
Paul Annacone, who coached Pete Sampras, the winner of 14 Grand
Slam singles titles, said Sampras spent months following his victory at the
2002 US Open figuring out whether he wanted to keep playing. He practiced, he
stayed in shape, and he pondered what he still wanted from the game.
Then, one day in the spring of 2003, Sampras called Annacone and
told him he had figured it out. He said he was done, that he had nothing left
to prove to himself. Sampras was just 32, and Annacone is certain he had more
big titles left in his racket.
“I don’t know how you can win and never play another match, but
Pete had such clarity,” Annacone said.
Compared with so many final chapters in tennis, the Sampras exit
has a certain grace.
At the moment, Federer’s final act may be at Wimbledon, with an
injured knee and losing a set 6-0 on Centre Court to Hubert Hurkacz of Poland
in the quarterfinal.
Nadal won his 13th French Open and 20th Grand Slam singles title
last October, but he fell in four sets in June to Djokovic at Roland Garros in
the semifinals of the French Open, where he has been nearly unbeatable. He
skipped Wimbledon and the Olympics, and he was last seen losing to Lloyd Harris
of South Africa in the second round of the Citi Open in Washington, DC His
comeback will hinge on solving a congenital foot problem.
Williams injured her hamstring early in her opening match at
Wimbledon and limped off the court.
In an interview on Wednesday, Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams’
coach, said that the entire team knew as soon as she suffered the injury at
Wimbledon that it would be a challenge for Williams to be ready for the US
Open, given the severity of the damage. She spent weeks resting and receiving
treatments to try to nurse her leg back into shape while trying to maintain her
fitness and form.
“We tried everything. She did everything she could,” Mouratoglou
said.
The storybook ending that a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles
title would provide seems increasingly unlikely, given the depth of the sport
and the demands of the competition over two weeks, said Pam Shriver, the former
top player and Grand Slam doubles champion. Williams has reached four Grand
Slam finals since returning from maternity leave following the birth of her
daughter and has not won a set in any of those matches.
“I don’t have enough evidence to tell me that she is going to be
able to win seven matches and be the last one standing,” Shriver said Tuesday
afternoon.
Eighteen hours later, Williams joined Federer and Nadal on the US
Open sideline.
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