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NEW YORK. — Serena Williams believes the withdrawal of some of the world’s top tennis players from this year’s US Open amid the Covid-19 pandemic will not take the shine off a potential record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title for her.
Six of the top 10 women’s players, including defending champion Bianca Andreescu and world number 1 Ash Barty, have dropped out of the August 31-September 13 US Open, boosting Williams’ chance of winning the major for the first time since 2014.
“It still has to be tennis that’s played, asterisks or not,” the six-time US Open champion told reporters at the weekend. “I think this whole year deserves an asterisk, because it’s such a special year – history we have never been through in this world.”
“I think we are living a future history lesson. I think regardless, there is always going to be some asterisk by it, because it’s never been done before.
“If you win, it was, like, wow, I was able to win in this crazy circumstance where there was no fans. It was just so sterile and weird, but I mentally came through. It might be a more mental test than anything.”
Williams, who has a history of blood clots and pulmonary embolisms, said she had concerns over travelling to New York and is living in a rented house instead of the official players’ hotel as a precaution.
“I have health issues and I don’t necessarily want to get sick, and if I do, I want the good version,” she said.
“I didn’t want to be in the hotel because I have lung issues and felt it was a big risk for me personally. In a house, I can control more. I needed to put my mind at rest so that I could perform.”
And for her or against her, former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka says fans in the stands are a key part of the tennis experience.
“I feel like they create an energy,” Azarenka said on Saturday, after beating Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in her opening match of the Western & Southern Open campaign on an eerily empty Grandstand court at the National Tennis Centre in Flushing Meadows.
“Those kind of magical moments always happen when there is a crowd, and it can swing each way,” Azarenka said. “I love that energy I feel like you can feed off.
“Sometimes you have the whole stadium against you and you kind of feed off of that, as well.”
Players are having to adjust, however, as tennis returns amid the Covid-19 pandemic that brought the sport to a halt in March.
“There isn’t really an atmosphere, so that’s obviously a little bit tricky,” former men’s No 1 Andy Murray said after his first-round victory over American Frances Tiafoe.
“I know it’s a bit of a cliche, but you need to kind of create your own atmosphere a bit on the court. It’s just not quite the same.” — AFP.
Online Reporter