Just a few hours before she was supposed to board the United States Olympic tennis team’s flight to Athens, Serena Williams sent word via e-mail that she wouldn’t be going to the summer Games because of a bad left knee.
”I’ve never been this disappointed in my career,” Williams said by telephone from Florida on Wednesday night. ”The good news is I don’t need surgery. That’s the only good news.”
Williams, who earlier this year expressed concern about safety in Athens, withdrew from WTA tournaments in San Diego and Montreal in the past few weeks because of swelling in her knee. The former number-one-ranked player had surgery to repair a partial tear in her left knee last August and was sidelined for eight months.
She said any concerns about security were the least of her worries.
”My decision was based solely on one, two, three, four, five, six different doctors’ opinions … and what would be the best decision for my career, long-term,” she said.
Instead of playing Olympic singles for the first time, the six-time Grand Slam champion said: ”I won’t even watch.”
Williams’s withdrawal came a day after 1992 singles gold medallist Jennifer Capriati announced she wouldn’t play because of a hamstring injury. Capriati’s spot in the Athens singles event was taken by the 40th-ranked Lisa Raymond, Martina Navratilova’s doubles partner.
”Serena has been battling injuries all year and we, as a team, are disappointed that she will not be able to join us in Athens,” US coach Zina Garrison said.
”We understand that Serena has been undergoing extensive physical therapy since San Diego and that her withdrawal has been based on the advice of her doctors.”
At Sydney four years ago, Serena teamed with older sister Venus to win the doubles, and Venus won the singles. The US has dominated women’s tennis at the Olympics since it returned as a medal sport at the 1988 Seoul Games, winning seven of the eight golds.
But this time, instead of having three of the world’s top players playing singles during the August 15 to 22 tournament, Garrison will have Chanda Rubin and Raymond joining the sixth-seeded Venus in singles.
And Rubin will replace Serena as Venus’s doubles partner. Venus has never played a tournament doubles match with anyone other than her sibling.
”I am sad and disappointed, not only because I am unable to travel to Greece and participate in the Olympics,” Serena said, ”but also because I gave my word that I would play.”
After seeing a doctor on Tuesday in New York, Serena notified the US Tennis Association of her withdrawal via e-mail three hours before the team’s flight was to depart. She’ll do extensive rehabilitation work in hopes of being ready for the US Open, which starts on August 30.
”I’m looking forward to playing” in the year’s last major, she said. ”I’ve never been so focused in my career on getting healthy.” — Sapa-AP
Special Report: Olympics 2004