LONDON (AP) — Serena Williams could be up next in the Summer of New York.
After the Knicks’ first NBA championship in more than 50 years, Taylor Swift’s wedding at Madison Square Garden and the World Cup final to be played just across the Hudson River, it looks like another circus is coming to town.
To the Flushing Meadows section of Queens, to be precise.
All indications point to the 44-year-old Williams playing the U.S. Open next month for the first time in four years.
“Her intention is to keep playing; the U.S. Open as well,” Rennae Stubbs, one of Williams’ coaches, said at Wimbledon on Tuesday — a week after Serena lost in her first singles match since 2022.
Williams injured her right knee midway through a three-set loss to Maya Joint at the All England Club and withdrew from a doubles match with older sister Venus on Saturday.
Williams shared an Instagram update over the weekend that included images of four syringes filled with fluid drained from her knee.
“As long as physically she can go — and I’m hoping in a few weeks that’s the case — to get her back on the court and hitting balls,” Stubbs said.
Main draw singles play at the U.S. Open starts Aug. 30.
“All I can say,” Serena said after her loss, “is stay tuned to a city near you.”
‘It will be huge’
James Blake, the Yonkers, New York, native who reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals twice, knows just what Williams will bring to the tournament.
“It will be huge and it’s deserved because she’s the greatest of all time on the women’s side – and an American,” Blake said of the 23-time Grand Slam champion. “She’s an idol for so many young girls.”
Blake is now the Miami Open tournament director and a tennis commentator for ESPN.
“She’s been through this for the last 20 years so she knows what a circus it will be and she’s willing to put herself through that,” Blake told The Associated Press. “That shows how much she loves the game and she loves the competition.”
Added doubles great Bob Bryan: “Serena is a legend. Everyone wants to see her on the court again. It’s a great story.”
Williams practiced at Bryan’s club in Florida earlier this year.
“She wasn’t giving away too much information but she was getting 12 rackets strung. … So we knew she was serious,” Bryan said. “Hopefully she gets healthy and can make a run this summer. She’s going to win again for sure. She’s a champion.”
Warmup tournaments
Williams played only two doubles matches — but no singles — before Wimbledon. Expect her to play more singles before the U.S. Open.
If she desires, Williams should have no problem obtaining wild card invitations from tournament organizers at U.S. Open warmups in Toronto and Cincinnati, Ohio.
“I know that for her, trying to play certainly something before the U.S. Open will be something she would like to do,” Stubbs said. “But at the same time it’s going to depend on how physically she’s doing.”
Knee issue
In Williams’ social media post about her injury, she said “the good news is my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again.”
Still, it was more of a factor against Joint than many people thought, according to Stubbs.
“She did whisper to me, ‘I would have won if I had a good knee,’” Stubbs said. “Leading up to the tournament, she was playing practice sets (and) beating players that are still in the tournament. I won’t mention which ones because I don’t want to embarrass them but she was playing well.”
Despite being away for so long, Williams still hit serves beyond 120 mph and showed off her same old heavy groundstrokes, which landed within inches of the baseline.
The only real issue was her movement.
“Considering how bad the knee was it’s pretty miraculous really that she went as long as she did in the match,” Stubbs said. “She was rubbing her legs every change of end. … So I could see that there was something going on that was a little unusual for her.
“But the fact that she got through, walked off the court and nobody even really knew was pretty miraculous. And it also shows how high her pain tolerance is.”
Hard courts
After the grass of Wimbledon, the hard courts of the U.S. Open — which she has won six times in singles — could be more favorable for Williams.
“Everybody saw her standard was still pretty good and so once she gets on the hard courts she’s going to have better stability,” Stubbs said. “We all know how well she plays on hard courts so it’s just a matter of getting her body back in into the shape she wants.”
Added retired player Caroline Wozniacki, one of Williams’ best friends: “I thought she moved well already on the grass. … She didn’t win the more important points in the match, but she did a good job. I would expect her to just keep doing better as this comeback progresses.”
Match toughness
Williams was broken only once as she lost the opening set to Joint. Then she won the second in a tiebreaker and didn’t really fade away until midway through the third.
“I’m sure just playing a few matches will get her more precise,” Blake said. “She missed one easy ball and then things unraveled a little bit. When she’s at her best that turns into one point instead of a game or two games or three games. She’ll get back to being match-tough.
“If she plays three or four matches before the U.S. Open,” Blake added, “it will be — not an entirely different player — but quite an improvement by the U.S. Open.”
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis