Williams is still playing tennis and while she is skipping the vast majority of events focusing mainly on the Grand Slams success has been hard to come by. Her best effort came early in Australia where she played well before running into eventual champion Naomi Osaka.
At the French Open she never quite found any form dropping out early. At Wimbledon, she sustained a bad injury very early in her opening match. The injury proved very difficult to heal and that forced her to withdraw from the US Open. Despite all of that she will continue and Grand Slam champion Marion Bartoli understands why.
She said:
“It’s the same case as Roger Federer. Injuries are putting them on the sideline. The fact that it’s towards the end of their careers is obviously not a good sign for them to come back at their best level. Serena still wants to try for next year and therefore she needs to be fully fit. That’s probably why she didn’t want to aggravate the injury she picked up at Roland Garros, and Wimbledon was just a continuation of that injury.”
Asked if she could do it Bartoli has no doubts about it. She said:
“She wants to heal first and get ready for the Australian Open. She still feels she has a shot to get one or even two more Grand Slams. If she can get fit, she can absolutely do it. She has the tennis for it, it’s just a matter of having your body ready.”