Serena Williams Has Similar Knee Injuries To Nadal

Print

Published on November 5 2015 6:14 am
Last Updated on November 5 2015 6:15 am

Serena Williams is dealing with similar knee injuries to the ones that have affected the career of Rafael Nadal, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou said at the Paris Open on Tuesday.

The 21-time Grand Slam champion called an early end to her season after the US Open, where her semifinal loss to Italy's Roberta Vinci ruined her hopes of completing the calendar year Grand Slam.

"It's the same as Rafa," Mouratoglou said. "It's just playing for so many years, the cartilage is [almost] gone. Not all of it, but a big part, so the bones just hit themselves.

"She has bone bruises, and if you keep on playing with this for too long, too much, the next step is a stress fracture."

Williams returned to training this week after almost two months off and Mouratoglou said they had always planned a break to allow the injuries to heal.

"There was no other option, and we knew that at some point we had to do it, because she plays with pain all the time," Mouratoglou said. "The injury can get really worse, and at her age her career could really be in danger if she went too far and got more injured, like Rafa 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 future.

"I'm not a doctor, she has treatment, but I know without rest there is no chance because you keep on hitting the bones all the time."