Serena Williams will finish 2015 at the top of the rankings with almost 4000 points more than world No.2 Simona Halep. The task of dethroning Williams from the top of the rankings seems like an impossible task, however Williams isn’t worried about this prospect. The biggest threat to her career could be her knee.
During an interview with French media on Tuesday, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou has spoken about her current knee problem. Williams decided to end her season early to concentrate on ‘her health issues’. At the time she didn’t elaborate on these issues, but Mouratoglou has spoken about the extent of the problem.
“The cartilage is not gone, not all of it, but a big part is”. He said.
“At her age, her career could really be in danger if she went too far and got more injured like Rafa [Nadal] did in the past. He kept on playing with the same problem and then it got worse and he had to stop for almost a year. We don’t want this to happen. She is 34. If she has to stop for a year then it is really bad for her.”
Throughout her career Williams has been troubled with knee issues. In 2003 she underwent an operation on her left knee to repair a tear, sidelining her for the US Open that year. She also withdrew from the 2008 Bank of West Classic and 2009 Open GDF Suez due to knee troubles. More recently, in 2015 the World No.1 pulled out of her Indian Wells semifinal clash against Simona Halep due to a sprained right knee.
The Frenchman also said that the knee issues contributed towards Williams loss at the US Open as well as stress. The world No.1 was trying to become the first woman since 1988 to win all four Grand Slam titles within the same season. At the US Open Williams lost in three sets to Italy’s Roberta Vinci.
“First, she had pain this day,” Mouratoglou said on Tuesday.
“With the knees you never know, sometimes the pain is much more [than other days]. That was the first thing she said when she came to the [practice] court: ‘My knees hurt so much today.’ So she was really struggling to move”.
Following her loss, Mouratoglou revealed that he didn’t speak with Williams for 15 days, saying that she was ‘depressed’ following her shock defeat. Despite the knee issues and her American disappointment, the world No.1 appears eager to return back to the tour in 2016 according to her coach.
“She came back to practice this week and she’s already so excited to play, which is good, but the preseason is long so you have to manage your motivation,” he said.
Williams first competition will be in the Hopman Cup, where she will play alongside Jack Sock. The tournament will start on January 3rd.
