Serena Being Serena: Partying, Jet-Skiing, Not Playing Tennis
4/01/2010 5:54 PM ET By Greg Couch
MIAMI -- Serena Williams is on spring break in South Florida. We've seen pictures of her playing on the beach in a bikini, heard word of her going to parties. She has blogged recently about her experience in manicure school, something she has wanted to do for a long time.
She also has been sitting in the stands at the Sony Ericsson Open watching her sister, Venus, run to the finals.
One person's spring break is another's physical rehab, I guess, because Serena has been pulling out of one tournament after another, including this one in Miami, citing a knee injury. She's now unsure about playing the Italian Open in May, which would mean more than half a year with just two tournaments for her.
Isn't this the time to be a little concerned, when the best player in the world, the golden goose of women's tennis, has been out so long?
She won the Australian Open, which was sandwiched between being too tired to play in the Fed Cup and too hurt to play in New York, Paris, Dubai, Miami, all events she had signed up for and then withdrawn from.
No concern. Instead, you hear crickets chirping. This smells like Williams pulling a fast one on the rules, finding loopholes to get out of mandatory tournaments by faking an injury to avoid playing in a bunch of tournaments she doesn't care about.
No one doubts she will be ready for the next major, the French Open, in May.
She has cried wolf over injuries so many times that no one even takes this seriously.
You know, it is possible that she is true to her word. And 28 is a dangerous age for a tennis player, especially one who is much stronger, but also much bigger than the usual player. Who knows what kind of beating those knees have taken over the years.
So I sent an email to her agent last week asking about the injury. What is it? Has she been to a doctor? Is it getting better? Has she been able to practice? Stuff like that.
No answer. The truth is, we cannot know what the truth is.
Even the women's tour doesn't know.
But Williams has brought the doubts on herself. All tennis players are hurt at some level. It's a balancing act to decide whether the pain is greater than the importance of the tournament.
In Serena's case, no tournament, other than the majors, counts. She has made that clear by simply not trying in the non-majors, a ripoff to ticket-buying fans. So maybe this way is better, simply not playing rather than tanking matches.
"Serena and I have done some great career-planning, and we're playing really at the peak of our tennis right now,'' Venus said, declining to give specifics about Serena. "I think tennis has been a sport where people play this insane schedule from 14-years-old, so of course at 26, it's over. We've really paced ourselves in order to play great tennis as long as we want.''
I think that's what Serena is doing, pacing herself. Taking a vacation.
And maybe that's smart, allowing her to avoid the burnout that other players have gone through. But the WTA Tour has given players most of November and December off. And the sport needs as much of Serena as possible.
Meanwhile, Venus beat Marion Bartoli in the semis Thursday, 6-3, 6-4.
"Yeah, you know, holding the Williams flag still,'' she said. "The big W.''
Somehow, Venus always seems to be there not only for herself, but also for her sport, whenever she can.
Serena is coming off like Ferris Bueller. (If you're too young to remember that movie, look it up.) When Rafael Nadal announced last year that his knees would keep him away from the tour for a while, the tennis world nearly panicked. He missed 2 1/2 months.
Serena is going to pass that.
So why doubt her? For one, she has done this before, saying she's hurt, but not showing any evidence.
When Nadal announced his injury, he almost immediately said what the doctors had diagnosed. Williams has said nothing other than it's her knee.
Nadal all-but disappeared when he got hurt, presumably spending his time trying to rehab his the knees and get ready to go. Williams had fun on the beach for photographers.
But most importantly, Nadal was known to fight to the end no matter where he was.
Serena? This is the time last year when she started losing in her first match in a string of tournaments, to people named Zakopalova, Schnyder, Schiavone. All far beneath her.
In October, during the tour championships, Williams pulled out of the Fed Cup just a few days after giving her word that she'd play for the U.S.
Instead, she said she would be too tired.
So she won the tour title, missed the Fed Cup, reached the final in Sydney, won the Aussie Open. Unlike Nadal, Serena had no noticeable drop-off in her play.
Well, Williams hasn't been seen since then, and ... wait, what am I saying?
She has been seen plenty, out on the beach and at parties, rehabbing the knee.
Email me at gregcouch09@aol.com
http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2010/04/01/serenas-recovery-really-her-break-point/