A Knee Injury Put Serena Williams Out of Miami Open. Is It a Step Back Before a Giant Leap?

Eight-time champion Serena Williams announced her withdrawal from the Miami Open citing a left knee injury.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner made it to the third round by beating Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson. On Monday, she would have a match against China’s Wang Qiang.

After her hard-fought victory over Peterson, Williams did not immediately confirm an injury or any ailment. She briefly admitted she was not satisfied with her performance.

On Saturday she publicly announced her decision to withdraw from the Miami Open, expressing her gratitude to the fans and the organizers of the tournament. The 37-year-old player said she was disappointed to leave due to a knee injury and hoped to be back next year.

The game against Peterson on Friday was only the seventh match Williams completed in 2019. Last week, she retired from the tournament in Indian Wells because of ”extreme dizziness and extreme fatigue”, caused by a virus.

Her last title was at the 2017 Australian Open, making her just one triumph apart from breaking Margaret Court’s record of 24 major singles titles. Following William’s withdrawal, China’s Wang will advance directly to the fourth round.

The year of 2019 did not start well for Serena Williams who returned to the court last year after suffering life-threatening complications after giving birth to a baby girl.

At the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January, Williams fell in a three-set match with Karolina Pliskova. In her first tournament after that, at Indian Wells earlier in March, she won against the former number one Victoria Azarenka but retired while trailing against Garbine Muguruza.

In the last months of 2018, Angelique Kerber outperformed Williams at the Wimbledon final against Angelique Kerber. She also experienced early losses in San Jose and Cincinnati before playing the US Open final. She lost it to Naomi Osaka in controversial circumstances.

Speaking of Naomi Osaka, she surprisingly lost to Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh in Miami. The current world No.1 split from her coach Sascha Bajin in February, only a month after she got her second consecutive grand slam title in Melbourne, at the Australian Open.

The Czech Petra Kvitova, who lost to Osaka in that final Down Under, won the Miami battle against Donna Vekic. She is progressing further in the tournament to meet France’s Caroline Garcia in the fourth round.

For a second time in a week, Indian Wells champion, Bianca Andreescu, won against world number four Angelique Gerber.

Serena Williams has been supporting all the working moms Since she gave birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian. On the occasion of the International Women’s Day this year, she addressed them again in a persuasive letter to point out that perfection is impossible.

However, do you think she is following her advice and does not push herself into perfection?